I don't agree. I think there is no reason to get over pithy about code style. Question one is "does it work," but question two is "can others read and maintain it." By adding in extra logic and lines that do absolutely nothing, the next reader of the code has to slow down and think, "ok, person A did this for a reason, what is their reason..." and disassemble the bad code only to realize that they just waited their time doing so. Readable and maintainable need to be considered for any code that will be maintained or read by others.