Different ways of writing the “if” statement [clos

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I have seen different ways of writing an if statement.

Which one do you prefer and why?

Example 1:

if (val % 2 == 1){output = “Number is odd”;}else{output = “Number is even”;} 

Example 2:

if (val % 2 == 1)
{
    output = “Number is odd”;
}
else
{
   output = “Number is even”;
}

Example 3:

if (val % 2 == 1)
output = “Number is odd”;
else
output = “Number is even”;

Example 4:

if (val % 2 == 1){
output = “Number is odd”;
} else {
output = “Number is even”;
}

Similar question:

Why is it considered a bad practice to omit curly braces?

Answer 1

I use version 2.

One reason to use curly braces becomes more clear if you don't have an else.

if(SomeCondition)
{
  DoSomething();
}

If you then need to add another line of code, you are less likely to have an issue:

if(SomeCondition)
{ 
  DoSomething();
  DoSomethingElse();
}

Without the braces you might have done this:

if(SomeCondition)
   DoSomething();
   DoSomethingElse();

Answer 2

I personally prefer 3. The extra curly braces just add too much unnecessary visual noise and whitespace.

I can somewhat see the reasoning for 2/4 to reduce bugs, but I have personally never had a bug because thinking extra lines were inside an if statement. I do use C# and visual studio so my code always stays pretty well formatted. This could however be a problem if I was a more notepad style programmer.

Answer 3

It is more important to be consistent than to select the best.

These styles have different advantages and drawbacks, but none is as bad as mixing them within a project or even a compilation unit or within a function.

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Ternary operator is the obvious choice for this specific code. For simple single statement if/else's that can't be otherwise expressed, I'd prefer a properly indented case 3:

if (val % 2 == 1)
    output = “Number is odd”;
else
    output = “Number is even”;

I understand the motivation behind "always use braces", but I've personally never been bitten by their omission (OK, once. With a macro.)

From the above styles, I'd pick (2). (4) would be ok if "properly" indented.
(1) I'd attribute to a young developer who hopefully will grow out of "compact code", or someone who can't afford a decent monitor. Still, I'd go with it if it was the local style.

Answer 4

Version 2. I always include the brackets because if you ever need to put more than one line under the conditional you won't have to worry about putting the brackets in at a later date. That, and it makes sure that ALL of your if statements have the same structure which helps when you're scanning code for a certain if statement.

Answer 5

I use version 2.

Answer 6

For cases like this, there's also the conditional operator:

output = (val % 2 == 1) ? "Number is odd" : "Number is even";

If you're definitely going to use an "if" I'd use version 2 or version 4, depending on the rest of your bracing style. (At work I use 4; for personal projects I use 2.) The main thing is that there are braces even around single statements.

BTW, for testing parity it's slightly quicker to use:

if ((val & 1) == 1)