Fewest lines of code, or fewest expressions? Suppose you open/read/process/writeback/close on one "line": in principle that is five expressions, and it is supp

Fewest lines of code, or fewest expressions? Suppose you open/read/process/writeback/close on one "line": in principle that is five expressions, and it is supported by a vast volume of code in the lower layers, which shows that it is all a matter of complexity management, particularly as expressed in the definitions of the interfaces between layers. Also, legibility is a crucially important aspect of complexity.