There is such a thing as pruning for yield. Same principle as topping, splits the stems and creates more bud sites. The genetically determined strain-dependent maximum is usually around 32. Some strains cannot achieve their full potential without it. The downside: it slows growth down a fair bit.

Unless you have two or more months of time available to veg AND you need/want short extremely bushy plants, it's probably not worth it pruning for yield. I sometimes do it though, simply because my flowering cab is usually occupied for 10-ish weeks at a time by other plants anyway, so I have lots of time for veg, and my veg boxes are very short, so stunting their growth (in return for many more bud sites) is a reasonable tradeoff for me. I've always been happy with the results of pruning for yield, personally. Your mileage may vary, of course.

There are a few pages about pruning for yield in The Cannabis Grow Bible, which I have basically summarized in the above paragraphs. The book has some pictures, but I'm too lazy to scan them in. Heh.