I read that article but found it to be a survey of earlier research that seems pretty inconclusive, especially considering that Java gets points for short functions because of its massive volume of low density code like the getters and setters mentioned.
On Sat, Sep 26, 2020 at 8:51 PM Joey K Tuttle <[email protected]> wrote: > Possibly interesting read for j'ers > > Although, our view of "very short functions" might be somewhat different > than in the languages discussed in this article - > > > https://softwarebyscience.com/very-short-functions-are-a-code-smell-an-overview-of-the-science-on-function-length/ > > - except perhaps for (quoting from the article), "Java, which is the > promised language of one-liner methods. Java classes often have one-line > getters and setters which are usually very simple (sometimes even > automatically generated), only returning or setting a private variable" ;-) > > That comment triggered an ancient amusing story. Arlene Azzarello learned > some APL in the course of editing and composing a Sharp APL Reference > Manual circa 1980. Before her joining our little world, she had no computer > experience at all. So, thinking some education would be helpful, she > enrolled in a computer science course at Foothills Community College > (middle of the Silicon Valley area). The course was taught in BASIC. One of > the homework assignments was to write a short function to join two > character strings. She was flummoxed that the best she could come up with > was 15 statements. She met with the instructor and expressed her dismay. > She was flabbergasted when he said, "Oh, that's exactly what I hoped you > would write and it is short!" > > She did try to tell him that in her mind, a short function for joining two > strings would be , > > I don't think the instructor was impressed or even got what she might be > thinking... This was pre-j so maybe he would have been more impressed with: > > join=: , > > But, on the other hand, maybe not... > > - joey > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- Devon McCormick, CFA Quantitative Consultant ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
