[11530]

In C++ I used to leave brackets off if the enclosed statement was only one line. E.g.

PHP Code:

if (a == b)
    DoSomething() 


In SourcePawn I was using the following lines:

PHP Code:

if (args == 0)
    if (a == b) {
        Line1
        Line2
    }
else {
    Line3
    Line4
} 


This is possible in C++ since the first if statement contains only one "block" (another if statement). However I get logical runtime errors using this, and must use brackets for the first if statement too. Why does SourcePawn do this, and not copy C++'s implementation?

[Powerlord]

Originally Posted by 11530 This is possible in C++ since the first if statement contains only one "block" (another if statement). However I get logical runtime errors using this, and must use brackets for the first if statement too. Why does SourcePawn do this, and not copy C++'s implementation?

Er... because Pawn isn't C++?

It is a bit odd that the error occurs at runtime, but not at compile-time, though.

I didn't find any reference to this gotcha in the Pitfalls section of the Pawn Language Guide (PDF) though.

[11530]

Well, Pawn is close enough to C/C++ that I thought it would in this simple case.

Edit: Found the relevant section in the guide, thanks Powerlord:

When if statements are nested and else clauses are present, a given else is associated with the closest preceding if statement in the same block

[berni]

8 years of active time as developer have showed me that you shouldn't not use brackets.
There is no real advantage in not putting them.

It makes your code really unreadable and when you add more than one line of code you will have to add them afterwards anyway.

Only beginners write conditional statements without the brackets.

[Lord Canistra]

Nah, real beginners always write brackets since they don't know those aren't always required.

[berni]

Originally Posted by Lord Canistra Nah, real beginners always write brackets since they don't know those aren't always required.

No, beginners usually copy code from other people (especially in Sourcepawn) and so they take over the bad coding styles of others.

Please do yourself a favor and use brackets

[asherkin]

Originally Posted by berni Please do yourself a favor and use brackets

It's even part of the official code style!
http://wiki.alliedmods.net/Contribut...d#Coding_Style

[napalm00]

Using brackets is a good habit: in case you need/want to add something else after the statement you won't have to add them since you already have them placed.

[Powerlord]

Originally Posted by napalm00 Using brackets is a good habit: in case you need/want to add something else after the statement you won't have to add them since you already have them placed.

I've gotten burned by this at my day job... one of the other developers doesn't use brackets when he just has single line bodies to if statements, but I changed one from a single line to multiple line and then had to figure out after deploying it to test why it broke.

[Lord Canistra]

Shame on me, but I'm obsessed with _removing_ braces around one-statement if/else/for/etc bodies. There's some weird urge for me to save extra couple of lines on these.
;_;