Clear is better than clever [pdf]

Re:Clear is better than clever [pdf] by jacobush on Monday May 06, 2019 @08:56AM (#19838960)

Or break them out into a function, then you can "short-circuit" with a return:

    int logic()
    {
        if (cond1)
        {
            return 1;
        }
        
        if (cond2)
        {
            if (cond3) 
            {
                return 10;
            }
            
            return 100;
        }
        //  ...
        
        return defaultValue;
    }

Since it's a function, it's also apparent that you are only touching one variable:

   myVar = logic();

I love the ternary operator, but I find it's harder to step it in a debugger though.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Clear is better than clever [pdf] by spectramax on Monday May 06, 2019 @12:34PM (#19841016)

Short circuiting is poor for readability in my view because not only do you have to parse the syntax but you need to mentally walk through each case to understand what’s going on.

Traditional if/else conditionals express clarity by embedding the decision for myVar and visually show how it would be assigned in various cases.

As @hotBacteria said:

  if(cond1){
   myVar = 1;
  } else if(cond2 && cond3){
   myVar = 10;
  } else if(cond2 && !cond3){
   myVar = 100;
  } else {
   myVar = 4;
  }

  // Now return myVar
  return myVar;

I’ll take this syntax over short circuiting any day.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Clear is better than clever [pdf] by drawkbox on Tuesday May 07, 2019 @07:51AM (#19848556)

Clear conditionals like this (or short circuiting) are very nice when it comes to merging.

One liners and mammoth tertiaries that are too long can lead to conflicts and more problematic merges/diffs/etc.

One operation per line makes repos and merging, as well as blaming, reading and reviewing, easier to parse.

[ Parent | on HN ]