> So like, Clean Code really does say you should write four line functions, and does not put caveats on that statement
This is false. I tried to look this up a few weeks ago, there is no number. The book says (close paraphrase) "functions should be short, and then they should be even shorter than that". It also says, "a function should be only so long that it expresses a single cohesive idea"
There is lot of nuance and wiggle room there, and those are not absolutist statements. Reasonable people can disagree whether small talk length functions are good or not, but the characterization of an absolute line limit is false.
I suspect that number comes from this quote a little further down
> Every function in this program was just two, or three, or four lines long. Each was transparently obvious. Each told a story. And each led you to the next in a compelling order. That’s how short your functions should be!
Thanks for pulling the quote. I agree. It is a distinction of "should be" and must be". FWIW: Uncle Bob clarified this exact topic in a recent youtube interview with Primeagen (about 5 months ago). The gist is if the length to have a single cohesive function is 50 lines, then so be it. It was clarified that clean code does not give a hard and fast limit (but does give a very weighty recommendation to go for small functions based on a number of heuristics).
This is false. I tried to look this up a few weeks ago, there is no number. The book says (close paraphrase) "functions should be short, and then they should be even shorter than that". It also says, "a function should be only so long that it expresses a single cohesive idea"
There is lot of nuance and wiggle room there, and those are not absolutist statements. Reasonable people can disagree whether small talk length functions are good or not, but the characterization of an absolute line limit is false.