functionrepetitionrather

Functionrepetitionrather is a coined term in software design describing a stance that favors repeating small blocks of code rather than factoring them into separate functions or modules. The term is not part of formal methodology, but appears in informal discussions about when duplication may be preferable to abstraction. It sits in contrast to the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle and to refactoring practices that emphasize reuse.

Its core idea is that, in certain contexts, duplicating a short sequence of statements can improve readability, reduce cognitive load, or simplify performance considerations. Proponents argue that for small, domain-specific tasks, extracting a function adds indirection and minor maintenance overhead, while repetition keeps the logic visible in one place.

Guidelines associated with functionrepetitionrather include: use repetition when the duplicated blocks are extremely small and unlikely to drift; consider the cost of creating, maintaining, and calling a separate function; assess the impact on performance or inlining by compilers; favor clarity for beginners over abstraction; and re-evaluate if the duplicated code begins to diverge.

Example: in a short script, two conditional branches perform the same data transformation inline rather than calling a shared transform function. Critics note that this approach risks inconsistency and larger codebases, and modern tooling often mitigates performance differences between inline code and function calls.

Relation to other concepts: functionrepetitionrather is often discussed alongside WET (Write Everything Twice) as an opposite stance to DRY. It is considered situational and usually confined to small-scale or rapid-development contexts. See also DRY principle, WET principle, and code duplication.