Have you heard about DRY? or "Don't Repeat Yourself"? This a principle that leads to clean coding, aims to reduce redundancy and promotes elegant, concise, and maintainable code.
At its core, DRY encapsulates a simple idea: avoid duplication. It's the art of writing code in such a way that every piece of knowledge or logic is expressed in just one place. By adhering to DRY, you ensure that your codebase remains efficient, consistent. Also we can say less error-prone because each non-repeated functional unit can, precisely, be unit-tested.
Here are key scenarios where DRY shines and can make your code better:
Repetitive Logic: Whenever you find yourself writing the same logic, obviously for a second time or a slight variation of it that can be refactored into one. That's a DRY opportunity. Create an intermediary reusable function or method to encapsulate that logic, promoting code consistency and making maintenance a breeze.
Configuration Management: Managing configuration settings like API endpoints or database credentials in one central location not only adheres to DRY but also simplifies updates and reduces the chance of inconsistencies.
Constants and Magic Numbers: Replace hardcoded values scattered throughout your code with named constants. This not only enhances readability but also facilitates changes by modifying one central constant. Better, these central constants can be taken from environment variables making your code safer while keeping it flexible.
Cross-Function Duplication: If you have multiple functions or methods that perform similar tasks, consider consolidating the common logic into a single function and calling it from wherever needed.
Testing: In your test suites, the DRY principle shine. If you avoided duplicating functions you will fill the benefits when coding its unit tests. You'll notice it reduces test maintenance efforts, ensures consistent test conditions and provides regression detection.
Note that the DRY principle isn't limited to a specific programming language or paradigm; it's a universal concept for evading to have multiple source of the same function. And multiple source of truth leads to ambiguity and deambiguation costs. Hence, whether you're writing Ruby, JavaScript, Python, Smalltalk, or any other language, DRY remains a guiding rule.
Said that, we can also talk about when not to use DRY in software engineering.
But as usual, before breaking the rule, you need to first master the rule so let's keep that for an incoming article.
In principle let's think about DRY and the reasons why is a great rule to have as default system design and programmer's behavior.
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