Does any language have as a feature blocks that you must pass variables to? I tend to prefer larger functions but agree with your point. If I ever write (or extend) a language I am going include huge numbers of ways to make assertions or explicit limitations of various forms.
I like Jens Gustedt's proposal for annonymous functions in C (at the end of Modern C[1]) by extending the syntax for compound literals. That would in a way give parameterized blocks, except that what you pass would be at the end (although if you name the parameters the same as what you pass it should work).
I think the main point is that it is helpful to be able to easily follow all the code that executes from point A to point B (at least up to the point of whatever portability layer you use). If you can reasonably structure it so that you just need to hit page down to read that code (without duplicated code) then that will often be easier to read IMO. I don't find one or two levels of function calls to be hard to follow, but after that it quickly gets more difficult. I suspect preferences here may to some extent be influenced by how good your short term memory is (and how good your IDE is). But I suspect there are also significant differences in how often different programmers try to step through code.
I like Jens Gustedt's proposal for annonymous functions in C (at the end of Modern C[1]) by extending the syntax for compound literals. That would in a way give parameterized blocks, except that what you pass would be at the end (although if you name the parameters the same as what you pass it should work).
I think the main point is that it is helpful to be able to easily follow all the code that executes from point A to point B (at least up to the point of whatever portability layer you use). If you can reasonably structure it so that you just need to hit page down to read that code (without duplicated code) then that will often be easier to read IMO. I don't find one or two levels of function calls to be hard to follow, but after that it quickly gets more difficult. I suspect preferences here may to some extent be influenced by how good your short term memory is (and how good your IDE is). But I suspect there are also significant differences in how often different programmers try to step through code.
[1] http://icube-icps.unistra.fr/img_auth.php/d/db/ModernC.pdf