In my experience, I've always wanted my classes ready to use from the time they are created. If I want a null instance, I create a null constructor. If I want the fields populated, I create an overloaded constructor that does that. I used to build separate routines that performed similar functions as yours, but tracking what did what became too much of a maintenance overhead. Once I began overloading the constructors, management became a lot easier. I'm not saying that I didn't refactor, because I did and I do. If I had redundant initialization code, I pulled them out into their own methods. But, I do not automatically pull out initialization just for the sake of pulling it out, because it's "easier to test," which, by the way, really doesn't make it any easier. It just creates additional, unnecessary function points... My $0.02...