← Sunday, September 27, 2026Practice & careersEssay

Keep side-effecting calls out of `if` conditions

teamten.com Editor score 6/10

The examples move calls such as `enqueueMessage()` and `flushQueue()` out of conditions and name their results before branching. This makes control flow and side effects easier to spot during code review.

What
The advice is to keep side-effecting function calls out of `if` conditions and perform the action before testing its result.
How
Assigning a call’s result to a named variable makes the action and condition explicit, including for calls such as `enqueueMessage()` or `flushQueue()`.
Why it matters
Separating actions from tests helps readers spot important calls and understand control flow, especially when skimming production code.

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