'Lastly, it's a little odd to me that he seems to contradict himself at the end, saying "don't repeat yourself," immediately after recommending the tools he's used for a long time. By my interpretation his implied moral to the story is, "we should have repeated ourselves."'
That's not what "don't repeat yourself" means. Building things using tools and patterns you've used before, refined by the experience, is a great thing (other things being equal). "Don't repeat yourself" means primarily "don't put the same info in multiple places such that differences between those copies is yet another thing that can break."
That's not what "don't repeat yourself" means. Building things using tools and patterns you've used before, refined by the experience, is a great thing (other things being equal). "Don't repeat yourself" means primarily "don't put the same info in multiple places such that differences between those copies is yet another thing that can break."