Should a connect method return a value?
- by Matt S
I was looking at some code I've inherited and I couldn't decided if I like a bit of code.
Basically, there is a method that looks like the following:
bool Connect(connection parameters){...}
It returns true if it connects successfully, false otherwise.
I've written code like that in the past, but now, when I see this method I don't like it for a number of reasons.
Its easy to write code that just ignores the returned value, or not realize it returns a value.
There is no way to return an error message.
Checking the return of the method doesn't really look nice:
if (!Connect(...)){....}
I could rewrite code to throw an exception when it doesn't successfully connect, but I don't consider that an exceptional situation. Instead I'm thinking of refactoring the code as follows:
void Connect(Connection Parameters, out bool successful, out string errorMessage){...}
I like that other developers have to provide the success and error strings so they know the method has error conditions and I can know return a message
Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?
Thanks
-Matt
