Question

Which is better in general in terms of the ordering? Do you put the fault condition at the top or bottom?

if (noProblems == true) {     // do stuff } else {     // deal with problem } 

OR

if (noProblems == false) {     // deal with problem } else {     // do stuff } 

Answer 1

i like to eliminate error cases first – and return from the function early so that the ‘happy path’ remains un-nested, e.g.

if (some error condition) {     //handle it     return; } //implicit else for happy path ... 

if it is easy to identify the conditions leading to the happy path, then by all means put that clause first (thanks Marcin!)