Control Flow via Return vs. If/Else [closed]

Answer 1

I would prefer the one I identify as being the one which EXECUTES less code.
If it is more common to class.Editable being false then I'd go for A.

But this example does not give much of an advantage in either case.

In any given situation a developer should analyze the input and adjust the code to be optimized on the most common input data.

EDIT:
To clarify:
By executes less code I in reality mean is most efficient...

Answer 2

First option, using return, is better, because:

1. you have a place to put all guards and preconditions, near your asserts and all that stuff.
2. for me, it's easier to think "let's see all that can be wrong, and return. From this point, I have everything I need and I am on the Happy Path
3. if you do use the if / else approach, you have all code in that method / function indented. Add other if, or for, and things start to get funny

One proponent of this method (return) is Marcus Zarra, in the Cocoa is my Girlfriend coding style

Answer 3

I prefer if/else, too. Legibility, readability and maintainability stands above anything else, for me.

Answer 4

under these circumstances, I would go with option A. In this case you are doing your input validation and then preventing execution of the rest of the code if the input is not valid (not editable). This keeps the entire body of the function out of a big if/else statement and makes it more readable.

However, I would also consider raising an exception rather than retuning a null - that is assuming that passing in a non-editable object into an "edit" function isn't a normal occurrence.

Answer 5

I prefer the second approach for the sake of readability and maintainability. Readability because it just reads 'cleaner' to me than the first approach, and maintainability because I don't have to worry about adding curly braces if I need to modify the if or else clauses. Further, the first approach is only 7 characters less than the second approach if you don't include new lines, which hardly seems a justification for choosing the first over the second.

That said, I actually prefer this:

public ActionResult Edit(MyClass class)
{
    ActionResult rv = null;
    if (class.Editable)
    {
        class.Update();
        rv = View();
    }
    return rv;
}

It's more code, but I can now set a single breakpoint on the return statement to inspect the value being returned instead of having to set two breakpoints to do the same in the two choices you offered.

Answer 6

Both of those statements are controlling flow via an if statement. It's just a matter of how you handle the condition.

I'm always on the fence when it comes to writing logic statements like this. Part of me likes the first option because it's a little less code. The other part of me likes the second option because it's much easier to follow the flow of logic. With the first option, it's easy to miss the return statement which can lead to manageability issues in the future.

...and for that reason, the second option always wins in my book. It's better to write code that is easier to read and maintain than try to take shortcuts.