21–30 of 83 posts
Don't do this. In languages where accidental assignment is possible (i.e. writing if(a=b) when you meant if(a==b) ), configure the compiler or linter to emit a warning in this situation. For example in C, GCC will complain about this when compiling with -Wall, which you should be using anyway.
Eh, I think it is good in Java in cases where Null input is possible.
You have to take bits of concision where you can find them in Java.
if x > 0:
y += x
y += x if x > 0 if (you.religion = GOD_XOM) {
A lot more of similar programming jargon by Jeff Atwood [1] [1] https://blog.codinghorror.com/new-programming-jargon/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The real lesson is for language designers, who for some reason love using equals for assignment. Lisp got it right a hundred years ago and nobody learned.
There is nothing wrong with using equals for assignment, the language designers just have to disallow assignments in if conditions.
Don't do this. In languages where accidental assignment is possible (i.e. writing if(a=b) when you meant if(a==b) ), configure the compiler or linter to emit a warning in this situation. For example in C, GCC will complain about this when compiling with -Wall, which you should be using anyway.
use strict;
use warnings;
sub one { 1 }
if ( my $one = one() ) {
say $one; # prints 1
}
say $one; # compilation error, "Global symbol "$one" requires explicit package name"
That's not to say assignment and equivalence might not be better off with different operators, as noted by others here.
Don't do this. In languages where accidental assignment is possible (i.e. writing if(a=b) when you meant if(a==b) ), configure the compiler or linter to emit a warning in this situation. For example in C, GCC will complain about this when compiling with -Wall, which you should be using anyway.
Exactly, and use 'if ((a = b)) ...' in those rare cases when it's appropriate.
if ((a = b) != NULL) ...
if let Some(thing) = fn_that_returns_option_thing() ...Earlier quoted context omitted.
The real lesson is for language designers, who for some reason love using equals for assignment. Lisp got it right a hundred years ago and nobody learned.
There is nothing wrong with using equals for assignment, the language designers just have to disallow assignments in if conditions.
In PHP I like using Yoda Conditions because there's a common idiom of testing assignment in the conditional: if ($value = getSomeValue()) { // Safely use value } Yoda Conditions defend nicely against accidents when '=' and '==' can be used legally this way and honestly you get used to reading them pretty quick.
They're also a false sense of security as they won't catch:
if $(value = $someOthervalue) ... if "start" == argv[1]:
....
else if "stop" == argv[1]:
....
else if "reload":
....
else if "status" == argv[1]:
....