This anti-pattern applies to functions/ methods which are not called from external modules/ components but are still exposed.
Impact
- It unnecessarily exposes the interface to client components/ modules
- If the function/ method is intended to be used privately, calling such functions/ methods might have undesirable output.
Characteristics
- The function/ method is not called from external modules/ components.
- The function/ method is called from within the own module/ component.
Guidelines
- The functions/ methods should not be exposed to other components (depending on the programming language they should be marked as private).