Should 'if' statement always have an 'else' clause? [closed]

Answer 1

Requiring an else stinks. Use it when needed. All programmers understand the construct and the implication of a missing else. It's like a pointless comment that echoes the code. It's plain daft IMO.

Answer 2

Seems like useless typing to me... and a possible cause for confusion. If you don't need it, don't put it!

Answer 3

Having an "else" with just an empty line of a code comment can usually mean the developer thought-through the condition and has a better idea of what execution path is actually taken at a given time. All recent compilers will remove the "else" and the comment, so you are not slowing software execution.

Unless I am reading the other responses incorrectly, it looks like most folks are objecting to the time it takes to declare their thoughts in the code and would rather just do it.

Answer 4

It is clear by the responses here that no one feels an unused else is needed. I have never heard nor read of such a thing. The more important issue before you is dealing with co-workers/developers who somehow believe adamantly that this is how If Then is to be used.

It sounds like you are not the senior person in this scenario so you cannot simply decree it to be so. I suggest asking the "empty else" parties to show where such a process is suggested in a book (blogs don't count) about development. Better yet, in 3 books about development. I have read my share of programming books across programming languages since 1982 and I have never seen such a suggestion.

This way you are not telling them that they are wrong which they could take personally. Instead you are willing to accept such a position but would like to see some documentation. The onus is on them to find the proof. Either they find it or they are left to argue that every programming book ever written is wrong while only they are right.

Good luck.

Answer 5

No. Guard conditions are a great example. You could nest the rest of the method logic in else clauses but it could get ugly really quickly.

Answer 6

One of the few possible situations where this might be a good idea is where you have several nested if statements, but fewer else clauses. The language will specify which if the else matches, but this may not always be clear to the reader. Of course, where you put content in curly brackets, nesting will be obvious, so there's no ambiguity. This make this a bit of an artificial case, but still possibly worth mentioning. Also, if your code is this complicated, there's probably a clearer way of writing it.