I find in my experiences that after awhile of doing very forceful SRP, OCP and even DRY that it starts to become second nature. Now I enforce SRP and DRY without even really know that I’m doing it. It’s like as soon as I repeat a single line of code I automatically just refactor it without even really thinking about it.

Now, I think it is difficult to get to this point and is why so many people write duplicated, monolithic code. There is a LONG period of time that you have to actively force yourself to code this way. It’s a very hard habit to get into, but once you are comfortable, it’s quick and easy.

I myself always strive to learn more patterns and wrap my head around them. In my entire programming career, using patterns effeciently is hands down the hardest thing to get into the habit of. It still comes difficult for me at times.

JP said in a screencast that I watched once something to the effect of “In the start you don’t use patterns at all. Then you try to actively make them fit into scenarios that they aren’t necessary. Finally you go back to the original way of not knowing that you are actually using them even though you are using them throughout your code in situations where they are useful.” This rings very true and I always think back to that because it is 100% accurate.

Anyways, I’m rambling on. This is a good post and really got me thinking. I am considering doing a post about this. thanks!