Why Fixating on the DRY Principle Can Make Your Code Worse
Can You Have Too Much of a Good Thing?
The principle of “Don’t Repeat Yourself” (DRY) is a cornerstone of software development, advocating for the reduction of duplication in code to foster efficiency, maintainability, and scalability. While the benefits of adhering to DRY are manifold, including easier updates, fewer bugs, and a more streamlined codebase, this principle can sometimes come at the cost of readability and understandability, particularly for those new to the code or to programming in general. The reasons for this trade-off can be understood through several key factors:
Abstraction and Generalization
DRY encourages the use of abstractions to avoid code duplication. Functions, classes, and modules are created to encapsulate repeated logic or data, which can then be reused across different parts of the application. While this approach reduces redundancy and fosters code reuse, it also introduces layers of abstraction that can make the code harder to follow. A developer must often navigate through multiple files or modules to understand how a piece of logic is implemented or how data flows through the application.
