One wrinkle we didn’t discuss as it relates to the point of consistency… Let’s say I’ve been consistently using instance variable access for private state in my class but then need to refactor to a private getter for one bit of state. The consistency guideline we all thought was a good idea now dictates that we change the access method of any other private state as well. Is this really what we want?
To me, this is a further argument for attribute readers at all times (the camp I was originally in and remain in). What do you guys think?