Order Of Arguments In Expressions

[ghenry74]

This is perhaps "just" a style question; however, even for matters of style that fall into the 'personal preference' category, there must be a rationale. (Mustn't there?)

I am interested in why, given a variable, an operator and a value, people choose to write either

if (variable operator value) -- e.g., if (myItn == 0)

or

if (value operator variable) -- e.g., if (0 == myInt)

I have a strong personal preference on this matter, for which I have a well-thought-out rationale and from which I never vary, and although I have seem many examples of the opposite order, I have never been apprised of the rationale for it.

Which order is your choice, and why?

Thanks in advance for your response.

[jcl]

if (variable operator value) -- e.g., if (myItn == 0)

Usually reads more naturally.

if (value operator variable) -- e.g., if (0 == myInt)

Catches ==/= typos.

Which order is your choice, and why?

The former. Prefer the way it reads, never had trouble avoiding typos, often use assignment in conditionals.

Edited November 9, 2007 by jcl

[Tommadness]

I use variable operator integer. I believe this stems from my days of Algebra, where we HAD to write our answers like X=4.