@searls if you say so

@searls No if ands or buts about it

@searls yeah I'm the author of a latency instrum lib. one of the reasons I made it was cuz didnt like relying on the metrics provided by an external/hands-off profiler. because just knowing "how long a function takes" is too coarse/noisy. latency depends on precise code path followed, & various context factors. there are variants in each flow, depending on if conditions like u said, switches, errors, exceptions, panics, lock contention, remote service delays etc. all effect metrucs & outcome

@searls reducing if statements is largely how I describe my job as CTO because it’s the clearest way to communicate the complexity, risk, and maintenance burden of seemingly-trivial feature requests

@searls Isn’t what you’re saying just an oversimplification of “cyclomatic complexity?” Over-complicated branching causes pain, but code that never branches anywhere is inflexible.

@searls Fighters of cyclomatic complexity, unite!

@searls Louder for the people in the back!

@searls I have some ~10 year old data validation in beginner’s python that is replete with ifs. It works but I dread touching it. It is essentially unmaintainable and needs to be replaced.

@searls Most people injured in falls fell while they were walking.