Coding with else{}...what are the cost benefits analysis?

if (digitalRead(ButtonPin) == LOW) {  //}

OR

if (digitalRead(ButtonPin) == HIGH) {  //
  return HIGH;
} else {  //}

I came across these two methods of testing a button. They both accomplish the same thing.

Why would a coder use one over the other? What are advantages/disadvantages to using either?

I am a code resurrectionist not a programmer or coder. I usually cut and paste code parts to develop a working project. I have code that use both methods. I'm curious what falls into best practice? Does one provide better performance?

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colporteur over 2 years ago

My understanding is by using the second conditional statement provides more flexibility. With the else, you provide the option to take action on both a HIGH and LOW value of the button. The first conditional statement doesn't provide that.

The Best practice for a coder would be to provide flexibility without causing overhead. By using the conditional statement with else the code is more flexible to expand. If never needed nothing lost.
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ntewinkel over 2 years ago in reply to colporteur

Oh! Sorry I think we may have been overthinking your question!

Yes, using if…else allows two possible actions for just one comparison.

But it’s trivial to simply add the else part later if you need it, so I generally don’t add it except for my reasons above.
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colporteur over 2 years ago in reply to ntewinkel

It seem I always manage to corrupt the bracket count and thing go for spiral.
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colporteur over 2 years ago in reply to ntewinkel

It seem I always manage to corrupt the bracket count and thing go for spiral.
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beacon_dave over 2 years ago in reply to colporteur

the ternary conditional operator might be for you then

testCondition ? expressionTrue : expressionFalse;

https://www.w3schools.com/c/c_conditions_short_hand.php
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