Question

Lets say I have the following code

public static string GetXMLValue()
{
    XDocument settingsFile = XDocument.Load("Settings.xml");
    return settingsFile.Element("Settings").Element("GenericValue").Value;
}

It simply reads an XML Settings file and returns the GenericValue value. It can’t be any simpler than that. Now my question is, would it provide any benifit (readability, performace, syntactically, maintainablitiy, etc.) to first place the return value in a string variable then return? Or is it best left the way it is?

Answer 1

To be honest, the simplicity of the methods makes it readable even in “one” line:

public static string GetXMLValue() 
{ 
    return XDocument
             .Load("Settings.xml") 
             .Element("Settings")
             .Element("GenericValue")
             .Value; 
}