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From: edw@ius1.cs.cmu.edu (Eddie Wyatt)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Multiple Returns
Message-ID: <1026@ius1.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Tue, 4-Aug-87 22:28:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: ius1.1026
Posted: Tue Aug  4 22:28:16 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 7-Aug-87 05:02:36 EDT
References: <8667@brl-adm.ARPA>
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 57

In article <8667@brl-adm.ARPA>, DHowell.ElSegundo@Xerox.COM writes:
> 
> There have been several messages posted concerning code with multiple
> returns.  I am currently going through a two page routine with a return
> on almost every other line, and let me tell you, it is nothing but a
> mess.  I think that if you need to put a return in the middle of a
> routine, you haven't really thought out the organization of your
> algorithm.  Whatever happened to the structured programming concept of


    X find_x(list,object)
	Y list;
	OBJ object;
	{
        X j;
        Y i;

	for (i = list->first; i != NULL; i = i->next)
	    for (j = i->first; j != NULL; j = j->next)
		if (j->object == object) return(j);

	return(NULL);
	}

   Returns in the middle of a routine are a good way to break from multi-level
loops. No design flaw here.

> one entry and one exit?  With multiple returns, in order to figure out
> the conditions on a certain piece of code, I have to follow the code
> through, looking at every conditional return to determine whether it
> applies or not.  I would much rather see the code in nested if
> statements, where I can immediately see which conditions apply to the
> piece of code I am concerned with.
> 
> Dan <DHowell.ElSegundo@Xerox.COM>

Consider an alternative - is this any better? worse?

    X find_x(list,object)
	Y list;
	OBJ object;
	{
        X j;
        Y i;
      	int found = FALSE;

	for (i = list->first; i != NULL && !found; i = i->next)
	    for (j = i->first; j != NULL && !found; j = j->next)
		found = (j->object == object);

	return(j);
	}
-- 

					Eddie Wyatt

e-mail: edw@iinge
> @be, and