How to exit an if clause

Question

What sorts of methods exist for prematurely exiting an if clause?

There are times when I'm writing code and want to put a break statement inside of an if clause, only to remember that those can only be used for loops.

Lets take the following code as an example:

if some_condition:
   ...
   if condition_a:
       # do something
       # and then exit the outer if block
   ...
   if condition_b:
       # do something
       # and then exit the outer if block
   # more code here

I can think of one way to do this: assuming the exit cases happen within nested if statements, wrap the remaining code in a big else block. Example:

if some_condition:
   ...
   if condition_a:
       # do something
       # and then exit the outer if block
   else:
       ...
       if condition_b:
           # do something
           # and then exit the outer if block
       else:
           # more code here

The problem with this is that more exit locations mean more nesting/indented code.

Alternatively, I could write my code to have the if clauses be as small as possible and not require any exits.

Does anyone know of a good/better way to exit an if clause?

If there are any associated else-if and else clauses, I figure that exiting would skip over them.

Answer 1

This method works for ifs, multiple nested loops and other constructs that you can't break from easily.

Wrap the code in its own function. Instead of break, return.

Answer 2

may be this?

if some_condition and condition_a:
       # do something
elif some_condition and condition_b:
           # do something
           # and then exit the outer if block
elif some_condition and not condition_b:
           # more code here
else:
     #blah
if

Answer 3

Effectively what you're describing are goto statements, which are generally panned pretty heavily. Your second example is far easier to understand.

However, cleaner still would be:

if some_condition:
   ...
   if condition_a:
       your_function1()
   else:
       your_function2()

...

def your_function2():
   if condition_b:
       # do something
       # and then exit the outer if block
   else:
       # more code here

Answer 4

from goto import goto, label

if some_condition:
   ...
   if condition_a:
       # do something
       # and then exit the outer if block
       goto .end
   ...
   if condition_b:
       # do something
       # and then exit the outer if block
       goto .end
   # more code here

label .end

(Don't actually use this, please.)

Answer 5

You can emulate goto's functionality with exceptions:

try:
    # blah, blah ...
    # raise MyFunkyException as soon as you want out
except MyFunkyException:
    pass

Disclaimer: I only mean to bring to your attention the possibility of doing things this way, while in no way do I endorse it as reasonable under normal circumstances. As I mentioned in a comment on the question, structuring code so as to avoid Byzantine conditionals in the first place is preferable by far. :-)

Answer 6

Generally speaking, don't. If you are nesting "ifs" and breaking from them, you are doing it wrong.

However, if you must:

if condition_a:
   def condition_a_fun():
       do_stuff()
       if we_wanna_escape:
           return
   condition_a_fun()
if condition_b:
   def condition_b_fun():
       do_more_stuff()
       if we_wanna_get_out_again:
           return
   condition_b_fun()

Note, the functions don't HAVE to be declared in the if statement, they can be declared in advance ;) This would be a better choice, since it will avoid needing to refactor out an ugly if/then later on.

Answer 7

I don't like the whole idea of structuring code this way. I fear it leads to the same problems as using goto statements. (luckily, Python has not goto statement).

Answer 8

while some_condition:
   ...
   if condition_a:
       # do something
       break
   ...
   if condition_b:
       # do something
       break
   # more code here
   break

Answer 9

I like trinithis' idea (Using while instead of if). But what if I wanna break an else clause not an if clause. It would be redundant to check the condition since it's already in else, no??