Return Values vs Side Effects

Developers should master return values to write clean, predictable functions that avoid global state mutations and improve code maintainability meets developers should learn about side effects to write more reliable and debuggable code, especially in systems where state consistency and concurrency are critical, such as web applications, distributed systems, or real-time data processing. Here's our take.

Return Values

Nice Pick

Developers should master return values to write clean, predictable functions that avoid global state mutations and improve code maintainability

Pros

• They are crucial in scenarios like data processing, API responses, and mathematical computations, where functions need to produce results for further use
• Related to: functions, parameters-arguments

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Side Effects

Developers should learn about side effects to write more reliable and debuggable code, especially in systems where state consistency and concurrency are critical, such as web applications, distributed systems, or real-time data processing

Pros

• Understanding side effects helps in adopting functional programming principles, reducing bugs related to mutable state, and improving code modularity by separating pure functions from impure operations
• Related to: functional-programming, state-management

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Return Values if: You want they are crucial in scenarios like data processing, api responses, and mathematical computations, where functions need to produce results for further use and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use Side Effects if: You prioritize understanding side effects helps in adopting functional programming principles, reducing bugs related to mutable state, and improving code modularity by separating pure functions from impure operations over what Return Values offers.

The Bottom Line

Return Values wins

Developers should master return values to write clean, predictable functions that avoid global state mutations and improve code maintainability