# Conditional return **URL:** \ **Category:** Crystal Contrib\ **Created:** [March 4, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663 "2024-03-04T00:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![self](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.crystal-lang.org/self/32/2421_2.png) [@self](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/u/self)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663/1 "2024-03-04T00:23:15Z")
What do you think about a conditional `return` statement? (Let’s call it “`return?`”) Sometimes I find myself writing code like: ```crystal result = some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return result if result result = some_other_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return result if result return nil ``` I could write that like so, but I don’t really like multiple `return` statements in a method to be that far to the right because they can easily be overlooked: ```crystal (result = some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression) && return result (result = some_other_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression) && return result return nil ``` Not a fan either: ```crystal return some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression || some_other_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression || nil ``` So how about: ```crystal return? some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return? some_other_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return nil ``` with `return?` being something like: ```crystal macro return?(expr) result = ({{expr}}) return result if result end ``` Is the forum the right place for questions like these or should it go directly into a discussion in an issue on GitHub? ---
**Author:** ![Blacksmoke16](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.crystal-lang.org/blacksmoke16/32/1241_2.png) [@Blacksmoke16](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/u/Blacksmoke16)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663/2 "2024-03-04T00:30:08Z")
What’s wrong with your first example? Could also write it like: ```crystal def some_method if result = some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return result end if result = some_other_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return result end nil end ``` Otherwise, it’s my 2 cents that if you really want to have this macro for your own code/projects that’s fine, but I’m not sure it’s worth having in the stdlib… But yes, the forums are a good starting point until there is something actionable that is worth creating an issue for. ---
**Author:** ![HertzDevil](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.crystal-lang.org/hertzdevil/32/1023_2.png) [@HertzDevil](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/u/HertzDevil)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663/3 "2024-03-04T00:36:01Z")
There’s also: ```crystal return unless result = some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression ``` And note that oftentimes `nil` is the only possible falsey value so you could write `return` instead of `return result`. ---
**Author:** ![self](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.crystal-lang.org/self/32/2421_2.png) [@self](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/u/self)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 12:51am UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663/4 "2024-03-04T00:51:19Z")
I actually want to return the result value, so if I’m not mistaken that would be: ```cr return result if result = some_long_expression ``` But what I get is: > Error: undefined method ‘result’ … > If you declared ‘result’ in a suffix if, declare it in a regular if for this to work. So that would be: ```cr result = nil return result if result = some_long_expression return result if result = some_other_long_expression ``` Still need to think about whether I like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ysbaddaden](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.crystal-lang.org/ysbaddaden/32/2252_2.png) [@ysbaddaden](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/u/ysbaddaden)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663/5 "2024-03-04T15:09:40Z")
What about using this opportunity to refactor your code? ```auto def execute? operation || second_operation end private def operation some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression end private def second_operation some_other_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression end ``` The compiled result will be identical (the operation methods should be inlined) and given that `#operation` and `#second_operation` are given explicit, self explanatory, names, this might be nicer to read. ---
**Author:** ![zw963](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.crystal-lang.org/zw963/32/1623_2.png) [@zw963](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/u/zw963)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663/6 "2024-03-04T16:26:37Z")
```crystal return? some_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return? some_other_loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong_expression return ``` I think the above is a very good solution, better than else. is there any other programming language have this? ---
**Author:** ![Xen](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.crystal-lang.org/xen/32/2288_2.png) [@Xen](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/u/Xen)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://forum.crystal-lang.org/t/conditional-return/6663/7 "2024-03-04T21:35:34Z")
> [@ysbaddaden](#): > > What about using this opportunity to refactor your code? Indeed. I’ve grown a habit of trying to avoid explicit returns when writing Crystal, I quite like having the return value be the last evaluated line of the function. Secondly, I try to avoid long expressions for readability. I believe the cost of using a few extra local variables is so minute as to be irrelevant.