RE: Why is LEAVE bad? (was: Cycle Processing vs. Doing it my way)

[Buck Calabro <Buck.Calabro@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>And the only problem with setting a return code
>and exiting at the bottom is that you have to
>scan every line of code to be sure you don't
>accidentally change the return code before
>returning.

Oh, I don't know... (a lot!)  If I mis-set a return code a simple editor
search will turn the culprit up.  Doing a search on LEAVE will turn a lot
more suspects.  This is really just a theoretical discussion.  In practise,
if a block of code is big enough to require multiple return codes or
multiple exit points, it's probably not structured very well anyway.  There
are well-known reasons for allowing this sort of code; edit checking a
screen-load of input data is one.

You've ably demonstrated that there are indeed places where the thoughtful
programmer might use leave.  I've been finding that my old style of coding
would result in commingling of code blocks; sequences that work better as
their own function.  When I write using many small functions, I find that I
have fewer and fewer reasons for leave, because my code blocks do one thing
and one thing only.  Leave now seems to me like a semicolon in a run-on
sentence.

Thanks for the discussion!
  --buck