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Recipe to prefer early return when handling some non-default code paths #609
Description
What problem are you trying to solve?
Improve code readability in cases like a method declaration with one big if statement. One branch would contain a lot of logic, and the other branch would have a return and maybe one or two statements.
Such cases could be refactored to have the logic for non-default case at the top with an early return, and the rest of the logic in the top-level method body.
What precondition(s) should be checked before applying this recipe?
Some heuristics can be applied on when to apply the change. Finger in the air something like:
- at least 5 statements in the "default" branch
- at most 2 statements in the "non-default" branch.
Describe the situation before applying the recipe
public void processOrder(Order order) {
if (order != null && order.isValid() && !order.isCancelled()) {
// Main logic
System.out.println("Processing order: " + order.getId());
calculateTotals(order);
applyDiscounts(order);
updateInventory(order);
sendConfirmationEmail(order);
logOrderProcessed(order);
} else {
// Minimal branch
System.out.println("Order is invalid or cancelled. Skipping processing.");
return;
}
}Describe the situation after applying the recipe
public void processOrder(Order order) {
if (order == null || !order.isValid() || order.isCancelled()) {
System.out.println("Order is invalid or cancelled. Skipping processing.");
return;
}
// Main logic
System.out.println("Processing order: " + order.getId());
calculateTotals(order);
applyDiscounts(order);
updateInventory(order);
sendConfirmationEmail(order);
logOrderProcessed(order);
}
Activity
sahanarameshh commentedon Jul 1, 2025
Could I be assigned to this please?
timtebeek commentedon Jul 1, 2025
Hi @sahanarameshh ! Thanks for you're interest to help out. We assign issues as soon as we see a draft PR with tests. Feel free to tag me as soon as you open one. Looking forward to it!