_sigh_. OP got really hung up on the example, and it ruined the article. There are certainly cases where linear makes sense. But beyond the length of your tick

_sigh_. OP got really hung up on the example, and it ruined the article. There are certainly cases where linear makes sense. But beyond the length of your ticker tape memory is about it, and since that varies quite a lot from person to person, I like it best if I can choose the level of abstraction with which to read code. This has never been a problem. Where indirection becomes a problem is inheritance and black box operations (as you might find in rails-y) frameworks. Django’s block model of extension for templates is so devious it should be considered felonious.