CODEWITHSUNDEEP
syntaxcoding-style
JeffThompson
JeffThompson

Reputation: 1600

Proper formatting for if statements inside loops

I'm curious which of the following is considered better form. My examples are snippets, but in more complex programs I've written, I can see arguments for and have used either.

Option 1: Skip ahead if a condition is met, otherwise execute lots of code:

for i in range(5):
    if i == 3:
        continue
    print i
    # and do lots of other stuff

The argument for this: clearly skips certain condition, doesn't result in overly nested code.

Option 2: Execute lots of code if condition is not met:

for i in range(5):
    if i is not 3:
        print i
        # and do lots of other stuff

The argument for this: more verbose and doesn't use unnecessary continue.

(There seems to be a few questions related to this, but mostly about using functions or long blocks of code. I'm curious about the == vs != part.)

Upvotes: 0

Views: 29

Answers (1)

thanksd
thanksd

Reputation: 55664

I think that, generally, Option 1 is better practice. In Option 2, 'lots of other stuff' is at a second level on indentation. Generally, the less indentation, the better.

Upvotes: 1

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