jneen's curly language mini style recommendation

guide.c

/*
 * jneen's curly-brace language style guide!
 * applies to: c, c++, c#, java, javascript, etc
 *
 * does *not* apply to golang because of some fun choices
 *
 * can be modified to use c#-style bracing, but please, not for guards.
 *
 * if (cond)
 * {
 *    return;
 * }
 *
 * is like 3 whole lines longer than it needs to be.
 */

// Point 1. Blocks should have curly braces if and only if they go on to the next line.

// no
if (cond)
  thing;

// no, unless required by language
if (cond) { thing; }

// yes
if (cond) thing;

// yes
if (cond) {
  thing1;
  thing2;
}

// Switch to multi-line curlies if either you need more than one statement, *or* the condition is very long.
if (reallyVeryLongCondition.withLotsOfVerbiageAndArguments(longArgument1, longArgument2)) {
  return;
}

// Point 2. Curly openings at end of line, closings at start of line. again, can be modified
// for c# style if necessary, but honestly i do it this way even in c#.

foo(bar) {
  baz;
}

// i might be the only one who does this instead of `} else {`, but i think
// else being its own clause makes it easier to scan.
if (a) {
  b;
  c;
}
else {
  d;
  e;
}

// the next 2 are marginal, but can be useful in certain situations
if (a) b;
else c;

if (a) b;
else {
  c;
}

// Point 3. Prefer guards to nested if/else. Encourages factoring out helper methods, which is good to do anyways.

// no
if (a) {
  // body of function
}

// yes: guard style
if (!a) return;

// no
if (a) {
  // body of function
}
else {
  handleError(...)
}

// yes: guard with special handling
if (!a) {
  handleError(...);
  return;
}

// this is cool, easy to read, nicely laid out
if (a) return 1;
if (b) return 2;
if (c) return 3;
return 4;