I worked closely with an engieer that would write these massive long functions; but they read clear and linear. They were really easy to follow and understand.

I worked closely with an engieer that would write these massive long functions; but they read clear and linear. They were really easy to follow and understand. He'd of course develop functions and macros to avoid repeating themselves. It just worked for his style and problem solving approach. He knew when to stretch a function. So, I'm convinced long functions can be done elegantly, it's probably uncommon.