As a person, what is your first and foremost aim? Well, that is a tough question, because there could be a lot of things, and the answer is limitless. Some people can say that their main aim is to have a stable life, and some strive to have everything better. Well, this has taken a deep turn, but I’m making a point, I promise. Now, for software development, there is a foremost aim as well. It is to have well-functioning, error-free software. Developers put in a lot of effort over the course of weeks and months to achieve this goal. This may pose a major problem or have an unachievable purpose. However, in the advanced technological realm, nothing is ever impossible. And the answer is DRY! as in the opposite of soaking wet? Well, WET is also one of the ways, but let us focus first on the DRY principle.
In this article, we will demonstrate one of the most important software development principles, DRY. We will explore its definition, how it is used, and its advantages and drawbacks.
Errors can occur when code is duplicated in different places and one is updated without correspondingly updating the others. With DRY, you only need to remember one set of rules, which greatly reduces the chances of making mistakes and causing bugs.
Since DRY coding necessitates the development of elements and codes that may be reused, it may take extra effort to get started. In the long run, however, it saves time and effort in codebase maintenance, updates, and enhancements, which in turn lowers overall development expenses.
The first step of this process is identifying duplicate code. This includes analyzing all the codes present in the functions in your software and pinpointing repetitive ones.