/ 
Perl-Critic-Policy-ControlStructures-ProhibitEmptyConditionalBlocks-0.001
/ Perl::Critic::Policy::ControlStructures::ProhibitEmptyConditionalBlocks

NAME

Perl::Critic::Policy::ControlStructures::ProhibitEmptyConditionalBlocks - Write no if, elsif, else or unless with nothing in its block.

VERSION

version 0.001

Perl::Critic::Policy::ControlStructures::ProhibitEmptyConditionalBlocks

A branch with nothing in it is a branch that does nothing, written out so the reader has to work that out. Say what does happen instead: invert the condition, or return early.

if ( $query->{raw} ) {          # reported
    # raw skips the filters.
}
elsif ( @acls ) {
    ...
}

# raw skips the filters.
return if $query->{raw};
...

A comment does not make a block less empty. Put it beside the code that the condition guards, where it explains something.

PROHIBITED

if ($x) {}                      # each of these blocks
if ($x) { # nothing to do       # holds no statement
}
unless ($x) {}
if ($x) { f() } elsif ($y) {}
if ($x) { f() } else {}
if ($x) { ; }                   # a null statement is none

ALLOWED

if ($x) { f() }
f() if $x;                      # no block
while ( waitpid( -1, WNOHANG ) > 0 ) {}    # a loop, not a conditional
sub noop {}                     # a sub, not a conditional

CAVEATS

Only if, elsif, else and unless are read. An empty loop body can be the point of the loop, when its condition does the work, so loops are left alone.

Each empty block is a violation of its own, reported at the keyword that opens it.

METHODS

supported_parameters

default_severity

default_themes

applies_to

violates

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests on the bugtracker website https://github.com/teodesian/perl-critic-policy-prohibitemptyconditionalblocks/issues

When submitting a bug or request, please include a test-file or a patch to an existing test-file that illustrates the bug or desired feature.

AUTHORS

Current Maintainers:

  • George S. Baugh <george@troglodyne.net>

CONTRIBUTOR

troglodyne-bot <morpheus@troglodyne.net>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (c) 2026 Troglodyne LLC

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.