Systems Entropy
Every single line of code we add to our system increases its overall entropy. If we allow it to grow without control, the maintainability and understandability of the system decreases very quickly. While we are developing a certain functionality, the concepts of cohesion, coupling, and connascence allow us to better understand the type and strength of the entropy we are adding. This is the reason that refactoring is such an important task. We use the feedback from our principles to refactor a system from high to low entropy.
The Relevance of Systems Entropy
In 1948, Claude Shannon published a paper, A Mathematical Theory of Communication, which is considered to be the beginning of an entirely new field of study called Information Theory. In this paper, he defines the concept of information entropy as a measure of the uncertainty in a message.
Note
Wikipedia, A Mathematical Theory of Communication: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mathematical_Theory_of_Communication...