Code maintainability:
Files with too many lines often violate the single responsibility principle. Limiting file size encourages better code organization and more modular design.
Cognitive load:
Smaller files are easier to understand, navigate, and reason about. Developers can comprehend the entire file's purpose without excessive scrolling.
Review efficiency:
Code reviews are more effective when reviewers can understand the complete context without getting lost in massive files.
AI-generated code management:
With the increasing use of AI tools for code generation, there's a tendency for these tools to produce very large single files. AI assistants often generate comprehensive solutions in one go, resulting in lengthy files that combine multiple responsibilities and features. A max-lines rule would encourage developers to refactor AI-generated code into more maintainable, modular components.
Guiding AI-assisted development:
This rule serves as a guardrail for teams leveraging AI in their workflow, promoting better architectural decisions when integrating generated code.
Consistency with other linters:
ESLint users migrating to Biome expect similar functionality for controlling code quality metrics.
Performance considerations: Very large files can impact IDE performance, especially with features like syntax highlighting and code analysis.
Reference:
https://eslint.org/docs/latest/rules/max-lines