Coding Standards / Coding Best practices in C++

Question

Consider the two code segments below. Which one is better and Why? If you have any other idea, please do mention. Where can I find answers to coding p

Answer 1

A switch would be a better solution to your problem I think. You would need to overload the method to take in an int param and I don't know if that's something you would want to do or not.

Bool MyApplication::ReportGenerator::GenerateReport(int i)
{
  switch(i)
  {
    case 1:
       // do something
       break;
    case 2:
       // do something
       break;
   // etc
 }
 return GeneratReport()
}

Not really sure what your plan is since you're calling the method recursively and as some point you will want to leave the method.

Answer 2

https://computing.llnl.gov/linux/slurm/coding_style.pdf

Answer 3

It really depends on the future expectations of the code. Code1 above implies that there may be additional logic to be added for each of the conditions; Code2 above implies rather that there is a rational grouping of the conditionals. Code1 may be more relevant if you expect to add logic for the conditions at a later date; if you don't, though, Code2 is probably more sensible because of the brevity and implied grouping.

Answer 4

Which on do you think best expresses what the code is trying to say. Which one do you need to work hardest to understand?

I would do this:

bool MyApplication::ReportGenerator::GenerateReport(){
    if (isAdmin()  && isConditionOne() && isConditionTwo() && isConditionThree()){
         return generateReport();
    } else {
        return false;
    }

}

Because:

a). Prefer to say what I want rather than what I don't want b). prefer symmetry, if and else. Clearly all cases covered.

Answer 5

Personally I prefer my for, while and do ... while loops to be actual loops. In the first code example this is not the case. So I would opt for example 2. Or, as others have already said, for breaking example 2 into a number of if ... return statements.

Answer 6

I like the answers that are a variation of version 2, but just to give an alternative: If those conditions are logically tied together, chances are that you will need to check for them again in other places. If this is true, then maybe a helper function would do the job better. Something like this:

bool isReportable(anyParametersNeeded){
    //stuffYouWantToCheck
}

bool MyApplication::ReportGenerator::GenerateReport(){
    if (isReportable(anyParametersNeeded)){
        return generateReport();
    }
    return false;
}

As this function is small, maybe you can even inline it (or let the compiler decide ;)). Another bonus is that if you want to include some extra checks in the future, you only have to change that function and not every spot where it's used.