👋 Hello, I’m Eric! I write and make videos about all things software engineering!
- Codingwithroby update at the end of newsletter
- Python coding challenge added at the end (solution will be given next article)
#002
If you’ve ever dealt with a codebase full of nested if-statements, you know how quickly they can turn into a mess. What starts as a simple check can spiral into deeply nested conditions that are hard to read, debug, and maintain. And as you add more logic, the complexity grows exponentially.
But here’s the good news:
You can refactor nested conditions into clean, maintainable, and reusable code with just a few small changes.
Here we can see we are checking 3 separate conditionals before we can get to the perform_edit_action(user) call.
Step 1: Flatten the conditionals.
The first step in cleaning up this code is to combine the nested conditions into a single line.
Now the logic is easier to read and understand. You can quickly see that all three conditions must be true for the action to be performed.
Benefits of flattening the conditions:
• Readability: The code is no longer buried under layers of indentation.
• Debugging: You can add print statements or logs for the combined condition without modifying multiple lines.
• Ease of Testing: Testing becomes easier because the logic is consolidated.
But we can take this even further.
Step 2: Extract the Logic into a Function
By combining the conditions into a function, we make the code even cleaner, more modular, and easier to maintain.
Now, the function name describes the intent of the logic. When you use this function in your code, it’s immediately clear what it’s checking for:
Step 3: Test and Extend
With the logic encapsulated in a function, you can easily write tests to validate it:
Which would you rather work with? The refactored version is shorter, easier to read, and much more maintainable.
Pro Tip: Anytime you find yourself writing nested if-statements, pause and ask:
• Can this be flattened into a single condition?
• Can I encapsulate this logic into a meaningful function?
Codingwithroby Update:
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Coding Challenge for the week
This is a new idea I wanted to try on the newsletter.
I'll post an easy->hard question for you all to try. Solution will be available on the next article along with a new challenge.
Refactor this code by using list comprehensions.
Good luck!
Cheers!
Eric
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