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    Just make it readable. The compiler will do the rest. What is wrong with multiple return statements? I use them all the time. You also should not have very long expressions as a general rule. If you do, then you are doing something wrong - break things out into smaller functions. Don't worry, the compiler will inline things if it can. Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 16:20
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    You get credit for remembering the TDWTF entry/entries(?) and not following their example :) What's wrong with multiple return statements? Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 16:21
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    I try to avoid multiple returns as a rule of thumb as they sometimes (not necessarily here) make it hard to debug. If you have just one return statement, you can put a print at the end of the function and see what it returns. Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 16:33
  • If it's C++, you create a log object which logs a message when it goes out of scope, so you don't need to add any explicit print statments. Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 16:41
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    Long expressions are much more of a readability problem than multiple return statements. They're also much harder to debug (you can't set a breakpoint in the middle of an expression). I try to avoid using the value of an assignment operation too, again because it decreases clarity… Commented Apr 24, 2011 at 13:45