Jacob Carlborg wrote:
On 2011-08-07 03:19, bearophile wrote:
I have discussed about this topic once in past, but in the meantime I
have seen this is a quite common problem, so I think it doesn't harm
to touch this topic again.
This is a direct D translation of the original C or C++ code:
// version #1
double foo;
if (abs(e.x - v.x)> double.min)
foo = (v.y - e.y) / (v.x - e.x);
else
foo = double.max;
If D's statements were expressions instead, this could work:
const foo = if (abs(e.x - v.x)> double.min)
(v.y - e.y) / (v.x - e.x);
else
double.max;
I find that much more difficult to read.
Especially consider
const foo = (a > b) ? bar() : baz();
compared to
const foo = if (a > b)
bar();
else
baz();
You have to read quite a lot of code before you get any visual cue that
the return value of baz() is used.
IMHO: to understand code, I think you really need to know if you're
looking at an expression or a statement, so making 'if' do both jobs
reduces code clarity. (Would be OK in a language where it was _always_
an expression).
