Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how difficult a unit of code is to intuitively understand. Unlike Cyclomatic Complexity, which determines how difficult your code will be to test, Cognitive Complexity tells you how difficult your code will be to read and comprehend.

A method's cognitive complexity is based on a few simple rules:

• Code is not considered more complex when it uses shorthand that the language provides for collapsing multiple statements into one
• Code is considered more complex for each "break in the linear flow of the code"
• Code is considered more complex when "flow breaking structures are nested"

Further reading

• Cognitive Complexity docs
• Cognitive Complexity: A new way of measuring understandability

Use a guard clause instead of wrapping the code inside a conditional expression

Example:

# bad
def test
  if something
    work
  end
end

# good
def test
  return unless something
  work
end

# also good
def test
  work if something
end

# bad
if something
  raise 'exception'
else
  ok
end

# good
raise 'exception' if something
ok

Check that the keys, separators, and values of a multi-line hash literal are aligned according to configuration. The configuration options are:

- key (left align keys, one space before hash rockets and values)
- separator (align hash rockets and colons, right align keys)
- table (left align keys, hash rockets, and values)

The treatment of hashes passed as the last argument to a method call can also be configured. The options are:

- always_inspect
- always_ignore
- ignore_implicit (without curly braces)

Alternatively you can specify multiple allowed styles. That's done by passing a list of styles to EnforcedStyles.

Example: EnforcedHashRocketStyle: key (default)

# bad
{
  :foo => bar,
   :ba => baz
}
{
  :foo => bar,
  :ba  => baz
}

# good
{
  :foo => bar,
  :ba => baz
}

Example: EnforcedHashRocketStyle: separator

# bad
{
  :foo => bar,
  :ba => baz
}
{
  :foo => bar,
  :ba  => baz
}

# good
{
  :foo => bar,
   :ba => baz
}

Example: EnforcedHashRocketStyle: table

# bad
{
  :foo => bar,
   :ba => baz
}

# good
{
  :foo => bar,
  :ba  => baz
}

Example: EnforcedColonStyle: key (default)

# bad
{
  foo: bar,
   ba: baz
}
{
  foo: bar,
  ba:  baz
}

# good
{
  foo: bar,
  ba: baz
}

Example: EnforcedColonStyle: separator

# bad
{
  foo: bar,
  ba: baz
}

# good
{
  foo: bar,
   ba: baz
}

Example: EnforcedColonStyle: table

# bad
{
  foo: bar,
  ba: baz
}

# good
{
  foo: bar,
  ba:  baz
}

Example: EnforcedLastArgumentHashStyle: always_inspect (default)

# Inspect both implicit and explicit hashes.

# bad
do_something(foo: 1,
  bar: 2)

# bad
do_something({foo: 1,
  bar: 2})

# good
do_something(foo: 1,
             bar: 2)

# good
do_something(
  foo: 1,
  bar: 2
)

# good
do_something({foo: 1,
              bar: 2})

# good
do_something({
  foo: 1,
  bar: 2
})

Example: EnforcedLastArgumentHashStyle: always_ignore

# Ignore both implicit and explicit hashes.

# good
do_something(foo: 1,
  bar: 2)

# good
do_something({foo: 1,
  bar: 2})

Example: EnforcedLastArgumentHashStyle: ignore_implicit

# Ignore only implicit hashes.

# bad
do_something({foo: 1,
  bar: 2})

# good
do_something(foo: 1,
  bar: 2)

Example: EnforcedLastArgumentHashStyle: ignore_explicit

# Ignore only explicit hashes.

# bad
do_something(foo: 1,
  bar: 2)

# good
do_something({foo: 1,
  bar: 2})