Distributing methods of a class across multiple files

[Chris Angelico]

On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 1:11 AM, Roy Smith <roy at panix.com> wrote:
> So, I'd say the driving principle should be that a function should do
> one thing.  Every function should have an elevator talk.  You should be
> able to get on an elevator with a function and when you ask it, "So,
> what do you do?", it should be able to explain itself before you get to,
> "Sorry, that's my floor".  If it takes longer than that to explain, then
> it's probably several functions fighting to get out.

Agreed, that's definitely a good rule of thumb. But there's still some
value in keeping the code length down too. In a program I maintain at
work (in C++, but the same holds true), some functions have a perfect
elevator talk, yet are quite a few screenfuls of code - this is not
really advisable. For instance, one function is "handle responses to
previously-sent requests". It incorporates all the code for handling
requests of type X, of type Y, and of type Z. If I were writing this
from scratch in Python, I would probably have X, Y, and Z all
separated out, and the checkresponses function would simply be a
dispatcher.

ChrisA