Yesterday, a new guy where I work IMs me to tell me that he doesn't like a particular coding convention that I use frequently. Actually, I think the text of the IM went something like this (paraphrasing):

him: me no likey that thingy you are doinng with if (afds) {asdfa} - ech. messy. blarjh
me: messy? how so?
him: i don''t know. just is.

That's some solid reasoning there, eh. Well, since he couldn't make a reasoned argument, I thought I'd throw it to the peanut gallery and let you make it for him if you'd like.

The convention in question is my use of a single line for if statements with short, 1 method call type statements.

Here's an actual code sample:

  1 private void LoginButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) 
  2 { 
  3     if ( this.Page.IsValid ) { this.Authenticate(); } 
  4 } 

What do you think? Messy? Do you prefer this instead?

  1 private void LoginButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) 
  2 { 
  3     if ( this.Page.IsValid ) 
  4         this.Authenticate(); 
  5 } 

Or is this ‘teh only way’?

  1 private void LoginButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) 
  2 { 
  3     if ( this.Page.IsValid ) 
  4     {  
  5         this.Authenticate();  
  6     } 
  7 } 

Personally, I like the compactness of the single line, and I refuse to code an if statement with no braces, but on the whole, I think the only important thing is that individuals on a development team respect whatever conventions are decided upon. Nevertheless, I enjoy hearing why some prefer one way over another – especially if you can make a thoughtful case. Convince me.

Again, reasoned arguments only. “Messy – bleh” won’t cut it.