Comments on Binstock on Software: Perfecting OO's Small Classes and Short Methods

OK, when I originally linked to Binstock on Software: Perfecting OO's Small Classes and Short Methods, I had not read the comments. Wow. Varied opinions and were a lot of fun to read. I would like to comment on a few.

One mentioned using automated enforcement software to make sure developers abide by these rules. I used to love this idea because I would run those tools over my own code. But, once I made it public what I was doing, my fellow developers would figure out ways around it. It's human nature. Now, I keep those tools to myself and use them on my own code. I think code beauty is a personal thing and strict enforcement to one standard is an open rally call to defy it. The end result is code that is worse than it was before.

Secondly, I took the rules to be a an exercise to limit your code in extreme ways so that the power of the message send comes through and the ugliness of data structures is exposed. The point is let go of central control in your objects. For that, I think this exercise is gorgeous.

Lastly, I think the recommendations are things to strive for. It makes you code more readable, testable, and flexible. Who wouldn't want to strive for those things?