Avoid interface pollution

Do not clutter the public interface of a class with things that users of that class are not able to use or are not interested in using. --Riel's Heuristic 2.6, Arthur Riel 1996

This heuristic is a more general version of Avoid interface bloat. It states that you should not place things in a public interface which are not useful, interesting or usable by other classes, as they just add clutter.

See also

• Fat interfaces
• Interface segregation principle