No, I do mean is that properties of good code can all be boiled down to a set of fundamental principles. I think one of the defining features of all of those p

No, I do mean is that properties of good code can all be boiled down to a set of fundamental principles. I think one of the defining features of all of those principles is that they directly conflict with one another. Good code means achieving a local minima, because up to a point, maximizing any one of these principles (e.g loose coupling) will inevitably violate one or more of the other fundamental principles. I.e. maximizing loose coupling often has the side effect of violating DRY or ramping up language complexity (another fundamental principle). I don't think you really can derive DRY from other principles, though I'd be curious to hear what you think it could be derived from.