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Having too many return statements in a function increases the function's essential complexity because the flow of execution is broken each time a return statement is encountered. This makes it harder to read and understand the logic of the function.

Noncompliant Code Example

With the default threshold of 3:

function myFunction(){ // Noncompliant as there are 4 return statements
  if (condition1) {
    return true;
  } else {
    if (condition2) {
      return false;
    } else {
      return true;
    }
  }
  return false;
}

The requirement for a final case default clause is defensive programming. The clause should either take appropriate action, or contain a suitable comment as to why no action is taken. Even when the switch covers all current values of an enum, a default case should still be used because there is no guarantee that the enum won't be extended.

Noncompliant Code Example

switch ($param) {  //missing default clause
  case 0:
    do_something();
    break;
  case 1:
    do_something_else();
    break;
}

switch ($param) {
  default: // default clause should be the last one
    error();
    break;
  case 0:
    do_something();
    break;
  case 1:
    do_something_else();
    break;
}

Compliant Solution

switch ($param) {
  case 0:
    do_something();
    break;
  case 1:
    do_something_else();
    break;
  default:
    error();
    break;
}

See

• MISRA C:2004, 15.0 - The MISRA C switch syntax shall be used.
• MISRA C:2004, 15.3 - The final clause of a switch statement shall be the default clause
• MISRA C++:2008, 6-4-3 - A switch statement shall be a well-formed switch statement.
• MISRA C++:2008, 6-4-6 - The final clause of a switch statement shall be the default-clause
• MISRA C:2012, 16.1 - All switch statements shall be well-formed
• MISRA C:2012, 16.4 - Every switch statement shall have a default label
• MISRA C:2012, 16.5 - A default label shall appear as either the first or the last switch label of a switch statement
• MITRE, CWE-478 - Missing Default Case in Switch Statement
• CERT, MSC01-C. - Strive for logical completeness
• CERT, MSC01-CPP. - Strive for logical completeness

Duplicated string literals make the process of refactoring error-prone, since you must be sure to update all occurrences.

On the other hand, constants can be referenced from many places, but only need to be updated in a single place.

Noncompliant Code Example

With the default threshold of 3:

function run() {
  prepare('action1');                              // Non-Compliant - 'action1' is duplicated 3 times
  execute('action1');
  release('action1');
}

Compliant Solution

ACTION_1 = 'action1';

function run() {
  prepare(ACTION_1);
  execute(ACTION_1);
  release(ACTION_1);
}

Exceptions

To prevent generating some false-positives, literals having less than 5 characters are excluded.