Limit function length: Keep functions concise, ideally under 70 lines. Shorter functions are easier to understand, test, and debug.

The usual BS... yes, shorter functions are easier to understand by themselves but what matters, especially when debugging, is how the whole system works.

Edit: care to refute? Several decades of experience has shown me what happens. I'm surprised this crap is still being peddled.

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puchatek 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This one, like some others in this style guide, can also be found in Clean Code. Not sure why you feel the need to call it "BS". Nobody is saying that your 75 line function is bad.

It's a reasonable guideline. Juniors won't do this automagically.

	▲	Kwpolska 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The "Clean Code" book is famous for making bad suggestions and producing unreadable code with too many functions just for the sake of following its rules.
	▲	jval43 an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yes and it was BS in Clean Code too, not a fan. Don't get me wrong, I often apply it myself and refactor code into smaller functions. But readability, understandability and ease of maintenance comes first. Especially juniors will apply such rules overzealously, bending over backwards to stay within an arbitrary limit while at the same time not really understanding why. Frustratingly, their lack of experience makes it impossible to discuss such dogmatic rules in any kind of nuanced way, while they energetically push for stricter linter rules etc. I've tried, and one even argued there's never ever a reason to go over N lines because their book is "best-practice" and said so. And you should not deviate from "best-practice" so that's it. I'm not making this up! That said, I'm always open to discuss the pros and cons for specific cases, and I do agree the default should be to lean towards smaller functions in 90% of cases.

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stouset 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It’s a lot easier to understand entire systems when they’re composed of small, pure, straightforward parts.

	▲	vlovich123 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, you can’t build a building unless you’re certain that every brick, rebar, and cement is all solid and meets a quality bar. Of course you need architectural schematics to make sense of the broader picture, but you need quality control on the pieces being put in place too.

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danparsonson 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The low level stuff is also important.