Question

I don’t understand why it is a best practice to use positive logic in an if block

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/aa629483.aspx

Preferred:

if (true) 
{ 
   ... 
} 
else 
{ 
   ... 
} 

Why it is a best practice to have positive logic in an if block?

Answer 1

It’s generally regarded as easier to understand.

if (!ICanDoThis)
{
    // don't do it
}
else
{
    // do it
}

vs.

if (ICanDoThis)
{
    // do it
}
else
{
    // don't do it
}    

Your logic may be crystal-clear to you today, but think of the developer who happens across it a couple of years from now.

But like everything else, this is only a guideline. Specifically, I use something like “negative logic” with error checking:

if (!myParametersAreValid)
{
    // fail out
}

DoWorkWith(myParameters)

I avoid a cascade of conditionals that “positive logic” would otherwise require.