Frequency reduces difficulty

"Frequency reduces difficulty" is a phrase I heard on a podcast today, though I have heard it before.

It's a better way of saying, "If it hurts, do it more often".

If software deployments and releases are large, risky, and contain bugs, break them into smaller, less-risky deployments and release them more often.

If you get a lot of merge conflicts in Git, merge your code more frequently. Make your topic branches as short-lived as possible, or try trunk-based development and avoid topic branches by default.

If writing tests is difficult and takes time, persevere. It will get easier the more you do it, and you'll save time in the future by releasing fewer bugs and being able to refactor safely.