I think the responder means that duplicate code is usually easy to refactor into single methods. Typically I see copy pasted code that is changed just a little bit. However much of a duplicated function can be broken into smaller functions and the redundant code removed in favor of calling into the functions. Often what is left then becomes easier to reason about and refactor accordingly. I love the PRs that I make which delete more code than I add but still manage to add functionality. It doesn’t happen often but it’s fun when it does.

The reflog is your friend in situations like that.

The only things JSON has over xml is that it’s easier to write a parser for it and the format is less verbose and less complicated. There are extensions to JSON that can add features that xml has and the JSON spec doesn’t have. Overall the xml spec is bigger and has more features but that also makes it overkill for many of the cases that it would be used in.

Baking recipes should be in weights for any dry ingredient. Converting them to volume measurements produces inaccurate results. One person may pack the flour in harder than the next. However baking requires precise ratios to be right. Change the ratios too much and that bread recipe just became a cookie recipe.

I wish I could say that Google is better at that. It’s basically the same story but with even less humans to talk to when you’re flagged for doing something wrong or in the case of Google your former college roommate whom you haven’t seen in 10 years did something wrong. It’s the price all mobile devs pay unless they only want to distribute to a small subset of users who have liberated their phones.