Can a C# method chain be “too long”?

Question

Not in terms of readability, naturally, since you can always arrange the separate methods into separate lines. Rather, is it dangerous, for any reason, to chain an excessively l

Answer 1

This is considered a code smell by some and not by others. Anytime you see the following:

Foo.getBar().getBlah().getItem().getName();

you should really be thinking, "what do I really want?" Instead perhaps your method should contain a function call:

String getName(Int _id, String _item)
{
    return myBar.getName( _id, _item );
}

which then delegates downward, amongst the classes. Then, if something changes in one of your classes at a later update, you'll see exactly where it occurs and can change it in one location.