Best way to format the conditional checks in "if" statement

Question

This code looks dirty and I can't figure out how to format it so that I can read it, understand it, and look clean at the same time.

if(center==2 && ((((y-height/2)==j) && ((x+width/2)==i)) || (((y+height/2)==j) &&  ((x+width/2)==i))))
  regenerateDot(i+1, j, dots); 

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Consider refactoring. You could put sub expressions into their own functions, thus naming their purpose.

For example:

if (IsCentered(center) && IsInsideLower(y, j, i) && IsInsideUpper(y, j, i))
  regenerateDot(i + 1, j, dots);

Note that in the above example the function names might be bogus (I haven't really attempted to understand what the purpose of the code is), but you should get the picture.

Answer 2

I would break down the boolean expressions into variables named for readability. Something like:

bool isCentered = center == 2;
bool inLowerRegion = (y-height/2) == j && (x+width/2) == i;
bool inUpperRegion = (y+height/2) == j && (x+width/2) == i;
bool inEitherRegion = inLowerRegion || inUpperRegion;

if (isCentered && inEitherRegion) {
   regenerateDot(i+1, j, dots);
}