Re: Return or not to return, that is the question

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On Wed, May 30, 2007 5:52 am, Richard Davey wrote:
> Just a quick straw-poll really:
>
> What is your take on using 'return' when you end a function, if you
> don't actually need to return a value?
>
> If you have to return say a true/false as the result of an operation,
> then it's an obvious choice. But what if all the function does is
> perform an action and then quit? Do you like to use 'return' at the
> end of it anyway, or do you just let it run into the closing } ?
>
> Or do you perhaps do a 'return true' at the end, regardless, even if
> the rest of your code never checks that value (on the basis that it
> may do in the future)

Planning for a return value that you might need but have no idea what
it will be is probably a Bad Idea -- You'll just need to document it,
maintain it, etc for no real reason.

If the function is only called for side-effects (I.e., it returns
nothing) then don't return anything -- You'll know by looking at the
end of the function that it's not supposed to return anything.

Adding the gratuitous 'return' seems of dubious benefit.

I rarely write a function that doesn't return anything, come to think
of it...

-- 
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