E11012: too many statements - extract functions

Category: E11xxx Code quality and IR analysis · Reported in phase: PRE_IR_CHECKS · Classification: EXCESSIVE_STATEMENTS · All error codes

What went wrong

Your function/method has too many statements - it's doing too much. Long functions are harder to understand, test, and maintain.

Worked examples

Compilable examples demonstrating this error and the correct fix:

ek9 -q 1335 (Why does EK9 reject a method or function that has too...)

Thresholds

Operators: 50 statements
Methods: 100 statements
Functions: 150 statements
Service operations: 100 statements

What counts as a statement

Variable declarations (x <- 5)
Assignments (x := y + z)
Control flow entries (if, while, for, switch, try)
Throw statements
Call statements: a function call, a method call (stdout.println(x)), x++ / x--, a stream statement
require, assert, assertThrows, assertDoesNotThrow and assertPanic statements

Example correct refactoring

Before: processOrder() with 120 statements

After: processOrder() calls:

validateOrder()     // ~20 statements
calculateTotals()   // ~25 statements
persistOrder()      // ~30 statements
sendNotification()  // ~15 statements

How to fix it

Identify logical groups that form a sub-task
Extract each group into a well-named helper function
Each function should do ONE thing well (Single Responsibility)

Common causes

Too many responsibilities in one function
Missing helper functions

Examples

Every example is compiled by the EK9 compiler: the first fails exactly as captioned, the others fix it.

Fails with E11012: too many statements - extract functions

#!ek9
defines module error.e11012.bad

  defines class

    TestClass
      mainValue as Integer: 0

      default operator ?

      //This operator has 56 statements, exceeding the max of 50 for operators
      //Note: Can't use 'pure' because we need to do mutation inside
      operator :=:
        -> other as TestClass
        v1 <- 1
        v2 <- v1 + 1
        v3 <- v2 + 1
        v4 <- v3 + 1
        v5 <- v4 + 1
        v6 <- v5 + 1
        v7 <- v6 + 1
        v8 <- v7 + 1
        v9 <- v8 + 1
        v10 <- v9 + 1
        v11 <- v10 + 1
        v12 <- v11 + 1
        v13 <- v12 + 1
        v14 <- v13 + 1
        v15 <- v14 + 1
        v16 <- v15 + 1
        v17 <- v16 + 1
        v18 <- v17 + 1
        v19 <- v18 + 1
        v20 <- v19 + 1
        v21 <- v20 + 1
        v22 <- v21 + 1
        v23 <- v22 + 1
        v24 <- v23 + 1
        v25 <- v24 + 1
        v26 <- v25 + 1
        v27 <- v26 + 1
        v28 <- v27 + 1
        v29 <- v28 + 1
        v30 <- v29 + 1
        v31 <- v30 + 1
        v32 <- v31 + 1
        v33 <- v32 + 1
        v34 <- v33 + 1
        v35 <- v34 + 1
        v36 <- v35 + 1
        v37 <- v36 + 1
        v38 <- v37 + 1
        v39 <- v38 + 1
        v40 <- v39 + 1
        v41 <- v40 + 1
        v42 <- v41 + 1
        v43 <- v42 + 1
        v44 <- v43 + 1
        v45 <- v44 + 1
        v46 <- v45 + 1
        v47 <- v46 + 1
        v48 <- v47 + 1
        v49 <- v48 + 1
        v50 <- v49 + 1
        v51 <- v50 + 1
        v52 <- v51 + 1
        v53 <- v52 + 1
        v54 <- v53 + 1
        //Sum and store to ensure referenced
        this.mainValue := v54

Fixed: Keep an operator short - extract the work into a function

#!ek9
defines module error.e11012.good

  defines class

    TestClass
      mainValue as Integer: 0

      default operator ?

      operator :=:
        -> other as TestClass
        this.mainValue := chained(other.mainValue)

  defines function

    chained()
      -> start as Integer
      <- rtn as Integer: start + 53

Questions and answers

These Q&A entries show E11012 and its fix:

Q1335: Why does EK9 reject a method or function that has too many statements?