Don't repeat yourself (I)

I have worked in the world of software development for many years, first as programmer, now as QA. Although it is not an exact science, there are certain "good practices" that I've learned over time.

Since I started writing a couple of years ago, it seemed to me that there were many similarities between programming and writing, not only at the level of "code" but also at the level of planning. Many of those good practices that I've learned, could be applied to the writing process. Others, however, were different enough to study them in detail.

In programming, one of those rules says "Don't repeat yourself", meaning that you have to avoid duplicating the code, don't write the same thing several times because when you have to change it (and you will), apart from the fact that it will take you longer, it is possible that you will miss some of those points of repeated code and get into problems.

But in writing, repetition is treated differently. It's not something to avoid always, but rather a literary resource. A resource that when it's well used gives good results. The most used one is the repetition of scenes changing the point of view. It offers the reader additional information about it and if it is well detailed, it shows the coherence of the author when she write it.

The most recent example I've seen of this type of repetition (and one that I really enjoyed) was in Avengers: End Game. Without going into the details of the plot, scenes from other movies are revived (repeated) but from another point of view, they provide some additional information. The mastery with which that plot was designed made it simply great.