My point is that getters and setters very often don't come in pairs.

Okay, you have clarified your point successfully. I don't really agree with this either, though. It all depends on what you have to do with your objects. Having two or more inter-related properties, any of which can be set and thereby affect the others, is not particularly rare.

Running with the original example, if you sold custom made hand-woven circular rugs and charged by the square foot, you might be able to imagine situations in which setting either the area or the radius might be important.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";