Chapter 2: CAP Epidemic

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Description

Due to the prevalence of cut-and-paste (CAP) errors in the programming industry, this illness can be seen as an epidemic of huge proportions. The occurrences of development problems due to poor use of cut-and-paste is rivaled only by premature optimization in its impact, and in some organizations it exceeds everything as the primary cause for project failures. The driving force behind this is a misdirected sense of laziness, believing that it is easier and faster to use cut-and-paste than proper design and refactoring principles. While it might be easier and debatably faster at first, experience tells that it will cost time and money in the long term. Since software projects are generally several months to several years, the long term is very important, and cut-and-paste can cause a multitude of problems.

The good news is that cut-and-paste is easier to remedy than the more complex problem of premature optimization. Often, the largest obstacle is a lack of understanding of the detrimental impact that cut-and-paste has on software development and maintenance. Once the trouble is recognized, there are a multitude of tools and techniques available to help overcome the problem. Do not take this to mean that no subtle forms of cut-and-paste exist. A few instances of cut-and-paste are harder to recognize, which we will discuss later.

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