Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY)

The DRY principle is a software development guideline aimed at reducing redundancy and improving maintainability. It encourages developers to avoid duplicating code or logic by ensuring that each piece of knowledge or functionality is represented only once within a system.

Key benefits of adhering to the DRY principle include:

• Efficiency: Reduces the risk of errors, as changes only need to be made in one place.
• Readability: Promotes cleaner, more organized code, making it easier for others to understand.
• Maintainability: Simplifies updates and bug fixes, since redundant code doesn’t need to be modified multiple times.

DRY is applicable not just to code but also to documentation, testing, and system design. However, developers need to balance DRY with pragmatism, as excessive abstraction can lead to overly complicated solutions.