Some important context re: my style... > Any code anywhere in the function can mutate any of the variables Regardless of the language I'm using, I never mutat

Some important context re: my style... > Any code anywhere in the function can mutate any of the variables Regardless of the language I'm using, I never mutate values. Counters in loops or some other hyper-local variables (for performance) might be the inconsequential exceptions to this rule. > More functions help scopes stay small, and data flow is more explicit. Just write your big function with local scope sections, if needed (another local exception to the rule above). Eg, in JS: let sectionReturnVal { // stuff that sets sectionReturnVal } or even use IIFE to return the value and then you can use a const. "A function, you're cheating!" you might say, but my goal is not to avoid a particular language construct, but to maintain locality, and avoid unnecessary names and jumping around. > A side benefit is that "more functions" helps keep indentation down. This is important and I maintain it. See "Align the happy path to the left" (https://medium.com/@matryer/line-of-sight-in-code-186dd7cdea88 https://medium.com/@matryer/line-of-sight-in-code-186dd7cdea...) It is also worth noting that solving this problem with function extraction can often be a merely aesthetic improvement. That is, you will still need to keep hold the surrounding context (if not the state) in your head when reading the function to understand the whole picture, and the extraction makes that harder. Using early returns correctly, by contrast, can actually alleviate working memory issues, since you can dismiss everything above as "handling validation and errors". That is, even though technically, no matter what you do, you are spidering down the branches of control flow, and therefore in some very specific context, the code organization can affect how much attention you need to pay to that context. > I don't like functions that are too small, otherwise it's hard to find out where any actual work gets done. Precisely, just take this thinking to its logical conclusion. You can (mostly) have your cake and eat it too.