Old code

[RomTibi]

Reviewing some old projects I met a function like this:

bool func()
{
bool var = false;

if(...)
    return var = false;
else
    return var = true;

}

Actually what the function returns? I think true, because assigning can't be false.

VII. 36. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard. SUN-TZU - Art of War

[Patrice T]

RomTibi wrote:

Actually what the function returns? I think true, because assigning can't be false.

There is an easy way to know ! - make a program that will execute that code.

Patrice “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” Albert Einstein

[Sascha Lefevre]

Any assignment is also an expression which has the value of the assigned value.

if(...)
    return var = false;  // returns false
else
    return var = true;  // returns true

Some programmers make use of this fact like this:

int x;
while ((x = SomeFunction()) > 0)
{
// use x for something..
}

Whether or not this is good style is up to personal preference..

If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. — Lyall Watson

[David Crow]

RomTibi wrote:

I think true, because assigning can't be false.

True (regardless).

"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson

"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons

"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles

[Lost User]

RomTibi wrote:

because assigning can't be false.

Of course it can. This is easy to test by writing a few lines of code.

[Lost User]

Try it.