This is true, until you're writing a library that's pulled from a repository and used in several projects. If you can't guarantee you're not going to break som

This is true, until you're writing a library that's pulled from a repository and used in several projects. If you can't guarantee you're not going to break someone else's code by changing: foo.x to foo.getX(); then you should stick with properties. Now, for staying inside a single package, or a single compiled unit, then what you say is reasonable enough. I'd still prefer to write the getters and setters, though, especially in cases where it's free, like Kotlin.