Moving Guard Clauses to the Edge of Your Application

TLDRGuard clauses, although initially useful, can clutter and complicate application code. By moving them to the edge of your application, such as the web framework, you can focus on the business concerns in your domain while ensuring input validity.

Key insights

🧱Guard clauses can simplify conditional complexity and reduce code duplication.

🌐Moving guard clauses to the edge of an application, such as the web framework, separates them from domain logic.

🚀Pushing guard clauses to the edge allows you to trust the validity of input within your application code.

🧹By removing guard clauses from application core, code becomes cleaner and more focused.

Use guard clauses for complex validations, but move simple checks like null and empty to the edge of your application.

Q&A

What are guard clauses?

Guard clauses are conditional checks at the beginning of a method or function to handle preconditions or validate input.

Why should guard clauses be moved to the edge of the application?

Moving guard clauses to the edge, such as the web framework, separates them from the domain logic, reducing clutter and allowing focus on business concerns.

When should guard clauses be used?

Guard clauses should be used for complex validations or checks that affect the behavior of the method. Simple checks like null or empty should be moved to the edge of the application.

How does moving guard clauses to the edge improve code quality?

By removing guard clauses from application core, code becomes cleaner, more focused, and easier to understand. It also allows for better testing of business logic.

Are there any drawbacks to moving guard clauses to the edge?

Moving guard clauses to the edge may require additional validation in case they are bypassed. It also requires careful consideration of where the edge of the application is and how input is transformed.

Timestamped Summary

00:00Guard clauses are initially useful to handle preconditions and validate input.

00:45Moving guard clauses to the edge of the application, such as the web framework, separates them from domain logic.

03:43Guard clauses should be used for complex validations, while simple checks like null or empty can be moved to the edge.

07:10By removing guard clauses from application core, code becomes cleaner and more focused.

09:05Moving guard clauses to the edge requires additional validation and careful consideration of the application's edge and input transformation.