When writing functions which use both conditionals and return statements, there is a common beginner's mistake to be avoided. Often, a new programmer will write a function like the following one:
def some_function(value)
if value
return True
else
return False
end
end
In the course of improving my code, at first I found myself making the mistake above countless times. Given the use of return
statements within both branches of the conditional, the else
statement may seem a nice balance to the if
statement. But, in fact, the use of else here is superfluous. Instead, the following is more elegant.
def some_function(value)
return True if value
return False
end
In the case that value evaluates to True
in the function above, the control flow will never reach the second return
statement. As a result, there is no need to use an else
branch when using return
statements.