if the same piece of code (or code that is almost the same) appears over and over again that’s a red flag that you haven’t found the right abstractions.
Questions to help you find the right balance between the general purpose approach special purpose approach
What is the simplest interface that will cover all my current needs?
- if you reduce the number of methods in an API without reducing the overall capabilities, then you are probably creating more general-purpose method. Reducing the number of methods makes sense only as long as the API for each individual method stays simple; if you have to introduce lots of additional arguments in order to reduce the number of methods, then you may not really be simplifying things
In how many situations will this method be used?
- if a method is designed for one particular use it is a red flag that it may be too special purpose. see if you can replace several special methods with a single general-purpose method
Is this API easy to use for my current needs?
- This question can help you to determine when you have gone too far in making an API simple and general-purpose. If you have to write a lot of additional code to use a class for your current purpose, that’s a red flag that the interface doesn’t provide the right functionality.