Best Practice on IF/ELSE Statement Order

Question

Which is a better practice? (I\'m coding in .Net if that makes a difference)

IF condition = true THEN
   ...true action--even if rare...
ELSE
   ...action
E         


        

Answer 1

Generally, I would always put the true clause first. Something like this, for me, obfuscates meaning:

If not something Then
  'do something 1
Else
  'do something 2
End If

This results in a double-negative, much better to write it like this:

If something Then
  'do something 2
Else
  'do something 1
End If

I believe this recommendation comes from code complete. A great book well worth reading

http://www.cc2e.com/

If you're going to have more than one else then it might be better to consider a case statement.