Is it bad style to create overly simple functions? [closed]

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Closed 9 years ago.

I'm just wondering - is it bad programming style to create functions (decomposition) for relatively simple task?

For example, in PHP I find it annoying to have the '$_' and then capital letters for session, post, get, and cookies. So if I made a function called setSesVar('key', 'value') that would create a session variable for me, is that bad? And is the overhead of calling a function for it each time worth it? Or is it irrelevant/own preference?

Some other examples:

• printLn function in c++ (and java)
• shorthand form of getElementBydId in Javascript (assuming I don't use jQuery or another library)
• redirect in place of header('Location: ' . url) in PHP

And a slightly off topic question - I'm use to languages with more 'strict' arrays; in PHP you can add an element to the end buy just saying myArray[] = 'newElement'. I feel like I should do myArray[sizeof(myArray)] but I bet it's probably bad style to add unessesary code.

Answer 1

Depends on what the functions do, and how much you're doing this. If you take everything and make a one-line function out of it, then you haven't really gotten rid of any complexity. In fact, you've added complexity, in two ways:

• First, anything that's not built into PHP is something someone new to your code has to figure out. If i see $_SESSION['stuff'] = "some value";, i know what it's doing -- as does anyone who's spent more than an hour with PHP. On the other hand, if i see setSessionVar('stuff', 'some value');, i have to go and make sure of what setSessionVar does. I mean, it's got to be doing something more than just setting something in $_SESSION; otherwise, why not just do that?

• Second, if these functions end up calling each other, you end up with a rats' nest of function calls. It's easier to follow a 10- (or even a 30-) line function than to trace through a 2-line function that calls this other 2-line function that calls this whole other 2-line function that might or might not call another 2-line function. You'd have to yoyo through the file (or worse, tab between a bunch of different files) in order to trace your way through the code.

In my opinion, anything that's built into PHP -- and can be expressed in one simple line of code -- does not deserve its own function. I'd suggest limiting functions to at least 3 lines, with one exception: methods that require access to an object's internals, like getters or setters for example, can be smaller. But most functions should do something that PHP doesn't already trivially do; if they don't, then you're defeating the purpose of functions and adding complexity for no good reason.

Answer 2

Only if your names aren't verbose enough-- if they're too short you'll wind up unintentionally obfuscating your code for future maintainers. On the other hand, if they're verbose enough, half the time it'll be quicker to use the original code. I'd say decomposition is only a bad idea if you're using overly short function names in order to avoid 'extra' typing.

Answer 3

I guess it would depend. Where would you put these functions? The main thing is if you are going to be duplicating these in every single class then it is probably a bad idea. If you are putting them in some utils class then the purpose would probably be defeated anyways:

System.out.println(" ... "); vs MyUtils.println(" ... ");

Really doesn't make much sense. (same with the others)