Coding Tip: Try to Code Without If-statements

You might uncover better solutions

Code from a Facebook project. Please don’t sue them.

Update: This article is now part of my book “Learn Coding with Modern JavaScript”.

Read the updated version of it at jscomplete.com/no-ifs.

When I teach beginners to program and present them with code challenges, one of my favorite follow-up challenges is: Now solve the same problem without using if-statements (or ternary operators, or switch statements).

You might ask why would that be helpful?

Well, I think this challenge forces your brain to think differently and in some cases, the different solution might be better.

There is nothing wrong with using if-statements, but avoiding them can sometimes make the code a bit more readable to humans. This is definitely not a general rule as sometimes avoiding if-statements will make the code a lot less readable. You be the judge.

Avoiding if-statements is not just about readability. There is some science behind the concept. As the challenges below will show, not using if-statements gets you closer to the code-as-data concept, which opens the door for unique capabilities like modifying the code as it is being executed!