Question

Give an integer x, I’d like to return x if it’s within the boundaries of some range. If not, return the value of the boundary it violates.

def keepWithinRange(x:Int, min:Int, max:Int) : Int = {
  if (x < min) return min;
  if (x > max) return max;
  return x;
}

Is there a more elegant way to do this?

Answer 1

I’d write this:

def keepWithinRange(x: Int, min: Int, max: Int) = math.max(min, math.min(max, x))

Or this:

def keepWithinRange(x: Int, min: Int, max: Int) =
  if (x < min) min else if (x > max) max else x

Either is more idiomatic than using return for control flow in Scala.