Returning from a method with implicit or explicit "else" or with a single "return" statement?

Question

Some people consider multiple return statements as bad programming style. While this is true for larger methods, I'm not sure if it is acceptable for short ones. But there is another question: Should else explicitly be written, if there is a return statement in the previous if?

Implicit else:

private String resolveViewName(Viewable viewable) {
    if(viewable.isTemplateNameAbsolute())
        return viewable.getTemplateName();
    return uriInfo.getMatchedResources().get(0).getClass().toString();
}

Explicit else:

private String resolveViewName(Viewable viewable) {
    if(viewable.isTemplateNameAbsolute())
        return viewable.getTemplateName();
    else
        return uriInfo.getMatchedResources().get(0).getClass().toString();
}

Technically else is not necessary here, but it make the sense more obvious.

And perhaps the cleanest approach with a single return:

private String resolveViewName(Viewable viewable) {
    String templateName;
    if(viewable.isTemplateNameAbsolute())
        templateName = viewable.getTemplateName();
    else
        templateName = uriInfo.getMatchedResources().get(0).getClass().toString();
    return templateName;
}

Which one would you prefer? Other suggestions?

Answer 1

Other obvious suggestion: use the conditional operator.

private String resolveViewName(Viewable viewable) {
    return viewable.isTemplateNameAbsolute()
        ? viewable.getTemplateName()
        : uriInfo.getMatchedResources().get(0).getClass().toString();
}

For cases where this isn't viable, I'm almost certainly inconsistent. I wouldn't worry too much about it, to be honest - it's not the kind of thing where the readability is like to be significantly affected either way, and it's unlikely to introduce bugs.

(On the other hand, I would suggest using braces for all if blocks, even single statement ones.)

Answer 2

i prefer the cleanest approach with single return.To me code is readable, maintainable and not confusing.Tomorrow if you need to add some lines to the if or else block it is easy.

1.) code should never be clever.