NYCPHP Meetup

[Daniel Convissor]

On Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 05:23:35PM -0500, Michael B Allen wrote:

> I think the nesting helps you understand the code.

But things get harder to understand if you're nested so far that half of 
the code on the line flies off the right hand side of the screen (or 
wraps).

Plus to figure out what the code is actually doing you need to jump back 
and forth between the appropriate if's and else's.  The deeper this gets 
the harder this gets.

Then theres the issue of having to read the ENTIRE function in order to 
figure out what happens in a given case, even if the function resolves 
your issue near the top.


> You know the more
> indented you are the deeper the success of the overall operation.

The same could be said about how many lines down you are into the 
function.


> Regarding the number of returns, it's better to minimize the number of
> exit points because it simplifies the function contract. If you have
> to modify the code later, there are fewer exit points to consider.

Yeah, I've heard that point of view before.  Sure, you can design only 
one exit point but then you have to use more time considering more code 
and ensuring all your code doesn't inadvertently change the result before 
returning.

Guess our minds work differently. :)

--Dan

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