sure, ok, if you only write immutable classes, by definition you never need setters, right?

i won't defend mutable classes (i won't decry them either), because i haven't personally thought tons about the benefits of immutability. i mean, i can see a lot of reasons why it's a good thing to shoot for, and i think it's a thing i often try to shoot for. but people often write mutable classes, or must maintain mutable classes written by their predecessors. in which case, setters can be nice.

or they can be annoying boiler plate. seems like a case by case thing to me. i think the getter/setter thing does often feel needlessly verbose, and so i upvoted your original parent comment. but "setters are always bad and i don't understand why anyone would ever use them" seems like a needlessly hard-line sentiment, IMO.