Re: [PATCH 2/2] mergetools/tortoisemerge: simplify can_diff() by using "false"

From: David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>
Date: Dec 12, 2016, 07:16 UTC
Message-ID: <20161212071646.5bqnnjpfnmnj6fm4@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <37d8bc43-9f24-b8e8-cb52-de9cc9b2adde@kdbg.org>

On Sat, Dec 10, 2016 at 09:15:34AM +0100, Johannes Sixt wrote:

Show 22 quoted lines

> Am 10.12.2016 um 04:21 schrieb David Aguilar:
> > Signed-off-by: David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>
> > ---
> > This patch builds upon da/mergetool-trust-exit-code
> > 
> >  mergetools/tortoisemerge | 2 +-
> >  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> > 
> > diff --git a/mergetools/tortoisemerge b/mergetools/tortoisemerge
> > index d7ab666a59..9067d8a4e5 100644
> > --- a/mergetools/tortoisemerge
> > +++ b/mergetools/tortoisemerge
> > @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
> >  can_diff () {
> > -	return 1
> > +	false
> >  }
> 
> Why is this a simplification?
> 
> My concern is that 'false' is not necessarily a shell built-in. Then this is
> actually a pessimization.

The "simplification" is semantic only.

Motivation: if someone reads the implementation of can_diff()
and it says "false" then that communicates intent moreso than
reading "return 1", which a programmer unfamiliar with shell
conventions might misinterpret as boolean "true".

I care less about semantics then I do about making things better for Windows, so we can forget about these two patches.

-- 
David