This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Maximiliano Contieri
Code Smell 184 — Exception Arrow Code
Arrow code is a code smell. Exception polluting is another. This is a mortal combination.
TL;DR: Don’t cascade your exceptions
Problems
- Readability
- Complexity
Solutions
- Rewrite the nested clauses
Context
In the same way arrow code is hard to read, handling exceptions is a usual case when we must address the topics in a cascade way.
Sample Code
Wrong
class QuotesSaver {
public void Save(string filename) {
if (FileSystem.IsPathValid(filename)) {
if (FileSystem.ParentDirectoryExists(filename)) {
if (!FileSystem.Exists(filename)) {
this.SaveOnValidFilename(filename);
} else {
throw new I0Exception("File exists: " + filename);
}
} else {
throw new I0Exception("Parent directory missing at " + filename);
}
} else {
throw new ArgumentException("Invalid path " + filename);
}
}
}Right
public class QuoteseSaver {
public void Save(string filename) {
if (!FileSystem.IsPathValid(filename)) {
throw new ArgumentException("Invalid path " + filename);
} else if (!FileSystem.ParentDirectoryExists(filename)) {
throw new I0Exception("Parent directory missing at " + filename);
} else if (FileSystem.Exists(filename)) {
throw new I0Exception("File exists: " + filename);
}
this.SaveOnValidFilename(filename);
}
}Detection
[X] Semi-Automatic
Some linters warn us when we have this kind of complexity
Tags
- Exceptions
Conclusion
Exceptions are less critical than normal cases.
If we need to read more exceptional code than normal then it is time to improve our code.
Relations
Disclaimer
Code Smells are just my opinion.
Credits
Photo by Remy Gieling on Unsplash
An error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.
Orlando Aloysius Battista
Software Engineering Great Quotes
This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.
How to Find the Stinky parts of your Code
Code Smell 184 — Exception Arrow Code was originally published in Level Up Coding on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Maximiliano Contieri
Maximiliano Contieri | Sciencx (2022-12-06T12:37:03+00:00) Code Smell 184 — Exception Arrow Code. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2022/12/06/code-smell-184-exception-arrow-code/
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