I found it more of a reflection on how developers have evolved over the last decade and that the understanding of the code / intricacies on how the languages work are slowly being lost. The tips I guess are aimed at those, hopefully few, that haven't been been programming on the web for the last decade and started with 'copy/paste' style.
Note in the article he mentions not to follow the tips when working on a project for a client where there are deadlines. Instead, apply them to personal projects as learning exercises.