question of style

[Jean-Michel Pichavant]

Simon Forman wrote:
> Hey I was hoping to get your opinions on a sort of minor stylistic
> point.
> These two snippets of code are functionally identical. Which would you
> use and why?
> The first one is easier [for me anyway] to read and understand, but
>   
Easier for you but not for those who are familiar with the standard way 
of python coding. (by standard I don't mean the "only Godly way of 
coding", there's room for custom rules)
But I think most of the people will write:
if self.higher is None:
    return self.lower
if self.lower is None:
    return self.higher
# here neither are None

> slightly less efficient, while the second is [marginally] harder to
> follow but more efficient.
>
> ## First snippet
>
> if self.higher is self.lower is None: return
> if self.lower is None: return self.higher
> if self.higher is None: return self.lower
>
> ## Second snippet
>
> if self.higher is None:
>     if self.lower is None:
>         return
>     return self.lower
> if self.lower is None:
>     return self.higher
>
> What do you think?
>
> (One minor point: in the first snippet, the "is None" in the first
> line is superfluous in the context in which it will be used, the only
> time "self.lower is self.higher" will be true is when they are both
> None.)
>