On Tue, Jun 30, 2020 at 3:03 PM Jeff King <peff@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> [...] what are we improving, and why?
>
> The original code handled the fact that the file might not exist by not
> including its exit code in the &&-chain which leads to the function's
> return value. Your new code does so by putting it in the &&-chain but
> asking "rm" to ignore errors. Is one better than the other?
>
> I think so, but my argument would be more along the lines of:
>
> - without "-f", "rm" will complain about a missing file, which is
> distracting noise in the test log
Indeed, a nice detail when reading verbose test output; one less thing
to distract the attention from the real/important problems.
> - once "-f" is added in to suppress that, we might as well add the
> command to the &&-chain. That's our normal style, so readers don't
> have to wonder if it's important or not. Plus it would help avoid a
> broken chain if more commands are added at the beginning of the
> function.
The bit about commands possibly being added at the beginning of the
function probably deserves its own bullet point. I often (relatively
speaking) cite that reason when asking people to &&-chain variable
assignments at the beginning of a function.
func () {
a=1 &&
b=2 &&
...
}
