> Assume that the fast path is a single expression, and the slow path > is at least tens of lines of code. Why would you pick one style over > the other?
I wouldn't use either of the above. Style A has multiple returns from the function. That's one of those things that's just fine right up until it isn't; code grows as different people work on it, and sooner or later, you can't see both returns on the same page. That's when mistakes happen. Style B evaluates both fast_path and slow_path results if fast_path is not applicable. This might be an error (side effects are not mentioned), might cause other problems (*Why* is fast_path not applicable? Because it hangs?), but will almost certainly be slower than not evaluating the fast_path result. So, given that we *have* to have one branch operation, I'd do a very simple if (fast_path_applicable) { result = fast_path(); } else { result = slow_path(); } return (result); It might be dull to read, but it's clear, it's accurate, and it will compile down to one branch taken - which is optimal for the general case - unless the particular architecture can do non-branching conditionals. Vic. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------------