I think there are situations where multiple returns, etc are bad, but
those should be easily identifiable using that "common sense" thing we
(probably) all have.
+1
Am 15.05.2013 22:01, schrieb Ralf Sternberg:
Hi all,
our coding standards [1] include include a ban on break, continue, and
multiple return statements. These restrictions originate from
Dijkstra's rules for structured programming [2], which ensure a linear
program flow and help to keep long procedures comprehensible.
Programming has changed since then and I think the code we write today
(object-oriented, short methods) does not really benefit from these
rules anymore. In fact, using breaks or multiple returns often results
in code that is clearer and easier to read. For example, take the
following method:
String findFirstMatch( List<String> strings ) {
for( string : strings ) {
if( string.startsWith( "/" ) ) {
return string;
}
}
return null;
}
Following our conventions, we used to write it like this:
String findFirstMatch( List<String> strings ) {
String result = null;
Iterator<String> iterator = strings.iterator();
while( iterator.hasNext() && result == null ) {
String string = iterator.next();
if( string.startsWith( "/" ) ) {
result = string;
}
}
return result;
}
The second version is not only longer, I think that the extra code to
avoid the return even obscures its mechanics. It's easy to miss the
"&& result == null" in the while condition which actually makes the
difference between finding the first or the last match.
I think that clarity and readability should be the guiding principle
for writing code, especially for framework code that is read much more
often than it is written. So I have broken with these rules, first as
an experiment, but meanwhile I'm convinced that they are not
beneficial anymore.
I'm not saying that breaks and multiple returns should be generally
preferred, but neither should they be generally avoided. Some code is
better written with a break and I don't believe that avoiding these
statements makes our code clearer or safer.
I therefore propose to lift the ban on break, continue and multiple
return statements, and at the same time to reinforce our commitment to
writing short and concise methods in an additional paragraph in our
coding standards.
What do you think?
Regards,
Ralf
[1] http://wiki.eclipse.org/RAP/CodingStandards
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structured_programming
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