Else After Always-Exiting If

javascript.no_else_return

Severity

low

Remediation Complexity

medium

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

medium

Resource

Code Smell

Language

JavaScript

Description

Reports if (…) { … } else { … } where the if branch always exits via return, throw, break, or continue. The else adds indentation without changing behaviour — the same code can run after the if block at column zero, keeping the happy path level with the rest of the function.

Rationale

The early-return idiom — guard with if, return, then continue with the happy path — is the convention in modern JavaScript style guides.
Wrapping the happy path in else after a guarded return flattens code unnecessarily and obscures which branch is the precondition.

// Bad - extra indentation for no behavioural reason
function classify(x) {
  if (x > 0) {
    return "pos";
  } else {
    return "non-pos";
  }
}

Remediation

Drop the else and let the happy path follow the guard at the same level.

// Good
function classify(x) {
  if (x > 0) {
    return "pos";
  }
  return "non-pos";
}

References

MDN — if…else