The principles war:🏜️DRY vs💋KISS and an unexpected hero😎
The most common advice given to developers is Don't Repeat Yourself, the well-known DRY.
Followed by the sly tip Keep It Simple, Stupid; sweetened by the KISS acronym.
But, are they compatibles? Let's see 🧵👇
The most common advice given to developers is Don't Repeat Yourself, the well-known DRY.
Followed by the sly tip Keep It Simple, Stupid; sweetened by the KISS acronym.
But, are they compatibles? Let's see 🧵👇
🏜️ Being DRY in programming is very good advice for a good reason:
When something changes, you only have to take care of the unique place where this feature is written.🦄
So is it not about code duplication or code reuse?
No, those are good consequences.
When something changes, you only have to take care of the unique place where this feature is written.🦄
So is it not about code duplication or code reuse?
No, those are good consequences.
🤢 But, code duplication is a smell of code, isn't it?
Yes, and you should be concerned about any duplicates in your codebase.
Although don't rush to fix it.
Why?
Because chances are that you arrive with a wrong abstraction that it's worst than the initial duplication.
Yes, and you should be concerned about any duplicates in your codebase.
Although don't rush to fix it.
Why?
Because chances are that you arrive with a wrong abstraction that it's worst than the initial duplication.
🍰 What could be wrong with an abstraction?
Software, even computers, is all about layers of abstraction!
Yes, but they come with a cost and need to be understood like a tradeoff. ⚖️
Software, even computers, is all about layers of abstraction!
Yes, but they come with a cost and need to be understood like a tradeoff. ⚖️
- 🏋️ Any indirection layer weighs as a complexity pound
- 🔐 Any reusable component might be caught by its dependents in a coupling trap
And these go totally against the sweet KISS principle.
- 🔐 Any reusable component might be caught by its dependents in a coupling trap
And these go totally against the sweet KISS principle.
🕺 Now I am caught in a trap, I can't walk out... says suspicious minds.
Not for long. You only have to take patience, breath, and count up to three.🧘
Not for long. You only have to take patience, breath, and count up to three.🧘
Most of the time the wrong abstraction comes from a very pernicious vice: Premature Optimization. 🤓
To rescue us there is another hero principle, enter YAGNI: You aren't gonna need it 😎
To rescue us there is another hero principle, enter YAGNI: You aren't gonna need it 😎
🧘 Basically, it tells you to wait for the problems before solving them.
It is a matter of time that duplication turns into triplication, but by then, you will have more knowledge and more reasons to pay for the abstraction.
It is a matter of time that duplication turns into triplication, but by then, you will have more knowledge and more reasons to pay for the abstraction.
So in summary:
- 🏜️ DRY is good advice but it comes at a cost.
- ⚖️ Load up on reasons and knowledge before creating abstractions.
- 🧸 Keeping your code simple is the ultimate demonstration of your talent.
- 💋 KISS a lot.
- 🏜️ DRY is good advice but it comes at a cost.
- ⚖️ Load up on reasons and knowledge before creating abstractions.
- 🧸 Keeping your code simple is the ultimate demonstration of your talent.
- 💋 KISS a lot.
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