Duplication vs. Coupling: When do you actually refactor duplicate code in Python?

Rishabh Joshi — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:56:44 +0000

When building and maintaining larger Python codebases, one of the classic debates between senior engineers is balancing the DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle against premature coupling.

Consider a situation where two or three separate modules have identical 10-line boilerplate (for example, database connection lifecycle handling, recurring input validation checks, or retry logic):


python
# Seen across module_a.py and module_b.py:
managed: bool = conn is None
if managed:
    conn = init_db(DB_PATH)
try:
    yield conn
finally:
    if managed:
        conn.close()

DEV Community: Rishabh Joshi

Duplication vs. Coupling: When do you actually refactor duplicate code in Python?