Re: Detecting superfluous "else"

[Didier Kryn <kryn at in2p3 dot fr>]

Le 19/07/2018 à 10:49, U.Mutlu a écrit :
> Hi,
> it makes me 'crazy' when I see such if-else constructs:
>   if (x)
>     return 7;
>   else
>     return 4;
>
> (Of course in this case one better would use the shorthand "return x ? 
> 7 : 4;", but that's not the issue here)
>
> The 'else' is obviously superfluous/redundant, ie. unneeded at all:
>   if (x)
>     return 7;
>   return 4;
>
> Is it possible to warn about such unneccessary occurances of "else"?
> If not, then I suggest to add a new warning code -Wsuperfluous-else or 
> -Wredundant-else or so.
>
> Thx

    Let me express the point of view of an old C programmer (and also 
programmer in other languages).

    From a semantic point of view  (if I can dare to use this word) the 
two forms are different.

    The first one, which you dislike, is appropriate in the general 
situation of an alternative in which the two cases have the same order 
of probability to happen. The form you propose is more appropriate to 
catch exceptions while leaving straightforward the "normal" execution 
thread.

    Although the C language is very loose about semantics, leaving it 
to the appreciation of the programmer, a well written program is one in 
which the author takes care of semantics. Some programmers find it 
stylish to minimize the character count of expressions and the size of 
the source file. My opinion is that size doesn't matter; the important 
is to favour the readibility, which includes making as clear as possible 
what the intent of the author is. Often, this is better achieved by the 
way the instructions are written than by adding comments.

    Thanks.

                    Didier