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  4. Using Else with blank If

Using Else with blank If

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linuxhelp
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  • M Marcus J Smith

    This is so minor it probably is a non issue but it bugs me.

    If blnFlag = False Then
    'Good
    Else
    Continue
    End If

    This happens alot but I believe it is better to say

    If blnFlag = True Then
    Continue
    End If


    CleaKO

    "I think you'll be okay here, they have a thin candy shell. 'Surprised you didn't know that." - Tommy Boy
    "Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!" - Frank the Tank (Old School)

    S Offline
    S Offline
    Shog9 0
    wrote on last edited by
    #9

    I prefer

    If ( isFlag ) Then Continue

    Succinct. :cool:

    ----

    It appears that everybody is under the impression that I approve of the documentation. You probably also blame Ken Burns for supporting slavery.

    --Raymond Chen on MSDN

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • R Roger Bamforth

      Absolutely. Along the same lines, my pet peeve is

      bool b;

      if (condition)
      {
      b = true;
      }
      else
      {
      b = false;
      }

      what on earth is wrong with

      bool b = condition;

      Regards - Roger

      J Offline
      J Offline
      Josh Smith
      wrote on last edited by
      #10

      Roger Bamforth wrote:

      what on earth is wrong with bool b = condition;

      In general I completely agree with you. The only time I might use the "bad" way is for debugging purposes. If I only want a breakpoint to hit when 'condition' is false, then I will create an explicit if/else branch. Of course, after debugging I revert the code back to bool b = condition; (I'm usually too lazy to setup debugger conditions!)

      :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

      H 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • M Marcus J Smith

        I think it is just easier to read when you say say what you want it to equal.

        If boolean = True

        instead of just saying

        If boolean

        I just couldnt think of a good example but what I was getting at is really saying something like

        If strType = "GOOD" OrElse strType = "COOL" Then
        'Good Record
        Else
        blnError = True
        End If

        instead of saying

        If strType <> "GOOD" AndAlso strType <> "COOL" Then
        blnError = True
        End If


        CleaKO

        "I think you'll be okay here, they have a thin candy shell. 'Surprised you didn't know that." - Tommy Boy
        "Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!" - Frank the Tank (Old School)

        P Offline
        P Offline
        PIEBALDconsult
        wrote on last edited by
        #11

        CleaKO wrote:

        If boolean = True

        But then you may have trouble when the code is ported to C, so you really need: If True = boolean

        --| "Every tool is a hammer." |--

        J S 2 Replies Last reply
        0
        • J Josh Smith

          Roger Bamforth wrote:

          what on earth is wrong with bool b = condition;

          In general I completely agree with you. The only time I might use the "bad" way is for debugging purposes. If I only want a breakpoint to hit when 'condition' is false, then I will create an explicit if/else branch. Of course, after debugging I revert the code back to bool b = condition; (I'm usually too lazy to setup debugger conditions!)

          :josh: My WPF Blog[^]

          H Offline
          H Offline
          Hal Angseesing
          wrote on last edited by
          #12

          Yep, done this myself. And debugger conditional breakpoints are actually quite a lot slower than IP traps.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • P PIEBALDconsult

            CleaKO wrote:

            If boolean = True

            But then you may have trouble when the code is ported to C, so you really need: If True = boolean

            --| "Every tool is a hammer." |--

            J Offline
            J Offline
            John R Shaw
            wrote on last edited by
            #13

            It is a good idea to place the constant value to the left of the equality symbol in any language that supports them, to catch syntax errors. It just feels so unnatural to type it that way. ;)

            INTP "Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence."Edsger Dijkstra

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • J jhwurmbach

              CleaKO wrote:

              think it is just easier to read when you say say what you want it to equal. If boolean = True instead of just saying If boolean

              Funny. For me its just the opposite: The superfluous = True imposes the nagging feel in me, I have missed something while reading the code. But then, the whole VB code gives me a screaming fit anyway. :rolleyes:


              Failure is not an option - it's built right in.

              J Offline
              J Offline
              John R Shaw
              wrote on last edited by
              #14

              jhwurmbach wrote:

              But then, the whole VB code gives me a screaming fit anyway.

              I know the feeling. ;)

              INTP "Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence."Edsger Dijkstra

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • P PIEBALDconsult

                CleaKO wrote:

                If boolean = True

                But then you may have trouble when the code is ported to C, so you really need: If True = boolean

                --| "Every tool is a hammer." |--

                S Offline
                S Offline
                Shog9 0
                wrote on last edited by
                #15

                You might still have trouble in C, if you run up against code that uses other non-zero values for "true"...

                ----

                It appears that everybody is under the impression that I approve of the documentation. You probably also blame Ken Burns for supporting slavery.

                --Raymond Chen on MSDN

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • M Marcus J Smith

                  I think it is just easier to read when you say say what you want it to equal.

                  If boolean = True

                  instead of just saying

                  If boolean

                  I just couldnt think of a good example but what I was getting at is really saying something like

                  If strType = "GOOD" OrElse strType = "COOL" Then
                  'Good Record
                  Else
                  blnError = True
                  End If

                  instead of saying

                  If strType <> "GOOD" AndAlso strType <> "COOL" Then
                  blnError = True
                  End If


                  CleaKO

                  "I think you'll be okay here, they have a thin candy shell. 'Surprised you didn't know that." - Tommy Boy
                  "Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!" - Frank the Tank (Old School)

                  A Offline
                  A Offline
                  AncientCodeslinger
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #16

                  If that's how you use booleans, you might as well just use an integer set to 1 or 0 or a string set to "Y" or "N" (or "True" or "False"). How about: somethingIsWrong = (type <> "GOOD" AndAlso type <> "Cool") With a variable name that clearly expresses the condition represented by the boolean, the comparison to True or False becomes clearly redundant.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • R Roger Bamforth

                    Absolutely. Along the same lines, my pet peeve is

                    bool b;

                    if (condition)
                    {
                    b = true;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                    b = false;
                    }

                    what on earth is wrong with

                    bool b = condition;

                    Regards - Roger

                    G Offline
                    G Offline
                    Graham Bradshaw
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #17

                    Well, if the condition is to test the equality of two variables,

                    bool b;

                    if (x = y)
                    {
                    b = true;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                    b = false;
                    }

                    will give you a compiler warning, and

                    bool b = (x = y);

                    will not. (Note the assignment vs equality test bug)

                    R D 2 Replies Last reply
                    0
                    • R Roger Bamforth

                      Absolutely. Along the same lines, my pet peeve is

                      bool b;

                      if (condition)
                      {
                      b = true;
                      }
                      else
                      {
                      b = false;
                      }

                      what on earth is wrong with

                      bool b = condition;

                      Regards - Roger

                      K Offline
                      K Offline
                      Kevin McFarlane
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #18

                      It's also quite common. I often find myself starting with the first one, then after testing, stepping through, etc., I refactor to the second.

                      Kevin

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • M Marcus J Smith

                        I think it is just easier to read when you say say what you want it to equal.

                        If boolean = True

                        instead of just saying

                        If boolean

                        I just couldnt think of a good example but what I was getting at is really saying something like

                        If strType = "GOOD" OrElse strType = "COOL" Then
                        'Good Record
                        Else
                        blnError = True
                        End If

                        instead of saying

                        If strType <> "GOOD" AndAlso strType <> "COOL" Then
                        blnError = True
                        End If


                        CleaKO

                        "I think you'll be okay here, they have a thin candy shell. 'Surprised you didn't know that." - Tommy Boy
                        "Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!" - Frank the Tank (Old School)

                        K Offline
                        K Offline
                        Kevin McFarlane
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #19

                        The reason for the first is that some people have a fixation about negative conditionals, such that they will try and avoid them at all costs - such as the cost you describe!

                        Kevin

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • J jhwurmbach

                          CleaKO wrote:

                          think it is just easier to read when you say say what you want it to equal. If boolean = True instead of just saying If boolean

                          Funny. For me its just the opposite: The superfluous = True imposes the nagging feel in me, I have missed something while reading the code. But then, the whole VB code gives me a screaming fit anyway. :rolleyes:


                          Failure is not an option - it's built right in.

                          K Offline
                          K Offline
                          Kevin McFarlane
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #20

                          jhwurmbach wrote:

                          But then, the whole VB code gives me a screaming fit anyway.

                          But you see such style in the C-family languages too, though it's probably less common.

                          Kevin

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • G Graham Bradshaw

                            Well, if the condition is to test the equality of two variables,

                            bool b;

                            if (x = y)
                            {
                            b = true;
                            }
                            else
                            {
                            b = false;
                            }

                            will give you a compiler warning, and

                            bool b = (x = y);

                            will not. (Note the assignment vs equality test bug)

                            R Offline
                            R Offline
                            Roger Bamforth
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #21

                            That's a good point and is actually something that had never occurred to me. However, whether or not you get a warning depends upon the types of x, y and b is not as simple as it seems. It is probably also language and compiler dependant. e.g in Visual C++

                            bool x = true;
                            bool y = true;
                            bool b = (x = y);
                            

                            gives no warning, as you say, but

                            int x = true;
                            int y = true;
                            bool b = (x = y);
                            

                            does generate a warning (forcing an int to be a bool) and

                            int x = true;
                            int y = true;
                            BOOL b = (x = y);
                            

                            doesn't.

                            Regards - Roger

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • M Marcus J Smith

                              This is so minor it probably is a non issue but it bugs me.

                              If blnFlag = False Then
                              'Good
                              Else
                              Continue
                              End If

                              This happens alot but I believe it is better to say

                              If blnFlag = True Then
                              Continue
                              End If


                              CleaKO

                              "I think you'll be okay here, they have a thin candy shell. 'Surprised you didn't know that." - Tommy Boy
                              "Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!" - Frank the Tank (Old School)

                              E Offline
                              E Offline
                              Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #22

                              If there is a complicated method and I want to indicate that I did indeed accomodate both possibilities I will, ocassionaly, leave a blank if. However, I almost never check a boolean variable against a boolean and instead prefer : if(isFlagSet){ //Some commented out code or not about //Why not used } else if(!isFlagSet){ //Some Actual code ... } else{ //File Not Found } Just kidding with the File not found!


                              File Not Found

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • M Marcus J Smith

                                I think it is just easier to read when you say say what you want it to equal.

                                If boolean = True

                                instead of just saying

                                If boolean

                                I just couldnt think of a good example but what I was getting at is really saying something like

                                If strType = "GOOD" OrElse strType = "COOL" Then
                                'Good Record
                                Else
                                blnError = True
                                End If

                                instead of saying

                                If strType <> "GOOD" AndAlso strType <> "COOL" Then
                                blnError = True
                                End If


                                CleaKO

                                "I think you'll be okay here, they have a thin candy shell. 'Surprised you didn't know that." - Tommy Boy
                                "Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it's so good!" - Frank the Tank (Old School)

                                P Offline
                                P Offline
                                peterchen
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #23

                                boolean = True but that's a boolean expression again, which could be true.. or false. So to make absoultely clear you want b = true to be true (not false), you write If (boolean = True) = True lather, rinse, repeat :rolleyes:


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                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • G Graham Bradshaw

                                  Well, if the condition is to test the equality of two variables,

                                  bool b;

                                  if (x = y)
                                  {
                                  b = true;
                                  }
                                  else
                                  {
                                  b = false;
                                  }

                                  will give you a compiler warning, and

                                  bool b = (x = y);

                                  will not. (Note the assignment vs equality test bug)

                                  D Offline
                                  D Offline
                                  D111
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #24

                                  Shouldn't it be: bool b = (x == y); ---------- bool b = (x = y); would set x to y and then b to x

                                  --- The sum of the intelligence of the world is constant. The total number of people is always increasing.

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