Question

I always use If statement (In C#) as (1. Alternative);

if (IsSuccessed == true)
{
   //
}

I know that there is no need to write “== true” as (2. Alternative));

if (IsSuccessed)
{
   //
}

But, I use it because it is more readable and cause no performance issue. Of course, this is my choice and I know many software developers prefer first alternative. What is the best usage, and Why?

Answer 1

If the name of the boolean value makes it perfectly clear what it is, then I’d always opt for version 2. However, sometimes you’re stuck with a particularly obtuse variable name that you can’t change, at least, can’t change right now… Refactoring is all well and good, but I try and avoid refactoring too heavily when making functional changes to the code as well.

For example:

if (!NoDropDownInHeader == true)
{
  // Activates when there *is* a dropdown in the header)
}

I’ve actually seen this particular example in production code and simplified it down to:

if (NoDropDownInHeader == false)
{
 // Activates when there *is* a dropdown in the header
}

And I personally think that both examples are more readable (although arguably the first example may be on par with this one for difficulty of mental parsing) than:

if (!NoDropDownInHeader)
{
 // Activates when there *is* a dropdown in the header
}

Note: Yes, I know the variable is badly named, but changing it in the multitude of places that it was present was outside the scope of the change I was making due to the number of places if would affect.