Kódduplikáció

Kódduplikáció, often referred to as code duplication or simply "duplication," is a common phenomenon in software development where identical or nearly identical blocks of code appear in multiple places within a codebase. This can manifest as exact copies of functions, classes, or smaller snippets of logic. While seemingly innocuous at first, kódduplikáció can lead to significant challenges in software maintenance and quality.

The primary concern with kódduplikáció is the "Don't Repeat Yourself" (DRY) principle, a fundamental concept in software engineering that advocates for avoiding redundancy. When the same logic exists in several locations, any necessary change or bug fix must be applied consistently across all instances. Failing to do so can result in subtle bugs and inconsistencies, as different parts of the program will behave differently. This process of updating multiple copies is time-consuming, error-prone, and increases the overall development effort.

Common causes of kódduplikáció include rapid development under time pressure, a lack of clear design patterns, and developers not being aware of existing similar code. Identifying and refactoring duplicated code is a crucial aspect of code quality improvement. Techniques for addressing kódduplikáció involve extracting the common logic into a reusable function, class, or module. This centralized piece of code can then be called from all the places where the logic was previously duplicated. Proper code reviews and automated static analysis tools can help in detecting and preventing kódduplikáció.