You are correct, of course; the only API I used this with on JavaScript kept returning the original object (and that was documented behaviour) so it didn't matt

You are correct, of course; the only API I used this with on JavaScript kept returning the original object (and that was documented behaviour) so it didn't matter. I most often use this with C++, where it is { CanvasObject *o = window.FindCanvasForObject(obj); o->Color(RED); o->MoveTo(10,30); o->LineTo(50,20); } Your point about helper functions is spot on. They break the form in C++ (and Python if you don't modify classes), but with this form it is still much better than breaking a fluent style line.