[bug #61569] tmac/an.tmac: unnecessary repeating of code

[Dave]

Update of bug #61569 (project groff):

                Severity:              3 - Normal => 2 - Minor              

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Follow-up Comment #1:

I haven't looked at an.tmac to see the context, but based on the snippet
posted here, there is no way to avoid code repetition, and choosing which code
to repeat is a judgment call.

Looking at the structure in pseudocode shows this.  This snippet amounts to:

if a then b else c
d
if a then e else f

The straightforward way to restructure this to eliminate the repetition of _a_
results instead in repetition of _d_:

if a then
  b; d; e
else
  c; d; f

Which of these is "better" depends on several factors: the relative complexity
of _a_ and _d_ currently; which of them might become more complex as the code
undergoes future revisions; which part of the code is more significant to the
overall flow (the current code signifies to readers that _d_ is important, as
it's part of the main flow; the rewrite says the test is the most important
thing, and subsumes _d_ inside it); and other factors.

In practice, the straightforward rewrite for this snippet...

.  ie \\n[cR] \{\
.    pl +1v
.    PT
.    pl +1v
.    sp 1v
.  \}
.  el \{\
.    sp .5i
.    PT
.    sp |1i
.  \}

...is longer by 3 lines, and not appreciably easier to read.

If you had a different rewrite in mind, please post it.

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