I think it depends on the situation. For example, under a functional paradigm the first problem is solvable as a special form of fold. The functional paradigm h

I think it depends on the situation. For example, under a functional paradigm the first problem is solvable as a special form of fold. The functional paradigm has tons of concepts backing it that make solving it in a ‘foldlike’ manner clear (which would involve the sort of padding the author suggests). In fact, the elimination of the special case is just a utilization of a monoidal operation and identity. In a lot of contexts “monoid” is a bunch of Mumbo jumbo, but in some functional languages it’s an incredibly clear way to go about resolving the issue. It’d also be perceived as more elegant than pattern matching against the first and last element of a list using some kind of predicate (aka a guard). I think a suggestion to think about your reader foremost resides at the core of your comment, and I think that’s what’s most important. In a context that’s predominantly iterative or object oriented you’re completely right—the special case pattern is far more pervasive and you’d be doing your readers no favors by abandoning it. However if you could expect your readers to come equipped with a host of functional idioms, the elimination suggestion isn’t so bad (at least from a semantic/comprehension standpoint, ignoring performance).