A file that keeps growing

Code longer than it needs to be: one of the ways AI coding agents bloat software, from lessloc's pattern catalog. lessloc catches it as swollen-file.

What makes a file that keeps growing a bad practice?

The standard that calls it a bad practice: CWE-1080 Source Code File with Excessive Number of Lines of Code.

What does lessloc do about a file that keeps growing?

lessloc catches it as swollen-file.

• swollen-file (tier 2): A file that grew by 150 or more lines and now has over 800 code lines.

Related patterns

The other patterns in Code longer than it needs to be:

• Brute-force idioms: lessloc catches it as simpler, built in for Python, JS/TS, Go, Rust, Java and C#. ruff (in every hook) and clippy (in ci) go deeper.
• Hand-built counters and flag loops: lessloc catches it as simpler.
• A catch that only rethrows: lessloc catches it as simpler.
• A promise wrapped in new Promise: lessloc catches it as simpler.
• Annotating types the compiler infers: lessloc catches it as simpler.
• A React Effect that only sets state from other values: lessloc catches it as simpler.
• Functions with many parameters (8 or more): lessloc catches it as long-params.
• Deep nesting: lessloc catches it as deep-nesting.
• Long functions: lessloc catches it as long-function.
• If-chains on literal values: lessloc catches it as if-chain.
• Reformatting lines the task did not change: lessloc gives every session a rule against it and catches it as churn.
• Net growth past a budget: lessloc catches it as net-growth.
• Golfed code: lessloc catches it as clever and dense-lines.