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Geekpulp

DRY variables

Singing in the rain

The concept of DRY code is simple, Don’t Repeat Yourself. So if you look at some code you’ve just written and notice it’s looking a bit moist, AKA the same stuff repeating over and over, there’s a good chance it’s an opportunity to refactor.

This is also true with variable declaration. Take the this example:

var umbrella = "open";
var raincoat = "on";
var gumboots = "on";
var music = "Singing in the rain";
var action = "Jumping in puddles like a man";
var danceMoves = "The Swim";

Notice how when declaring loads of variables we tend to repeat var a lot? Not very DRY now is it? Let’s put a towel over it:

var umbrella = "Closed",
raincoat = "off",
gumboots = "off",
music = "Walking on sunshine",
action = "slip, slop, slap",
danceMoves = "The twist";

Small difference’s like this add up over the course of a project so it’s best to make these your default habits when you’re a beginner.