How to explain to a developer that adding extra if - else if conditions is not a good way to "improv
- by Lilit
Recently I've bumped into the following C++ code:
if (a)
{
f();
}
else if (b)
{
f();
}
else if (c)
{
f();
}
Where a, b and c are all different conditions, and they are not very short.
I tried to change the code to:
if (a || b || c)
{
f();
}
But the author opposed saying that my change will decrease readability of the code. I had two arguments:
1) You should not increase readability by replacing one branching statement with three (though I really doubt that it's possible to make code more readable by using else if instead of ||).
2) It's not the fastest code, and no compiler will optimize this.
But my arguments did not convince him.
What would you tell a programmer writing such a code?
Do you think complex condition is an excuse for using else if instead of OR?
