--- /dev/null
+##############################################################################
+# $URL: http://perlcritic.tigris.org/svn/perlcritic/trunk/Perl-Critic/lib/Perl/Critic/Policy/Subroutines/ProhibitExplicitReturnUndef.pm $
+# $Date: 2008-07-03 10:19:10 -0500 (Thu, 03 Jul 2008) $
+# $Author: clonezone $
+# $Revision: 2489 $
+##############################################################################
+
+package Perl::Critic::Policy::Subroutines::ProhibitExplicitReturnUndef;
+
+use 5.006001;
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use Readonly;
+
+use Perl::Critic::Utils qw{ :severities :classification };
+use base 'Perl::Critic::Policy';
+
+our $VERSION = '1.088';
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Readonly::Scalar my $DESC => q{"return" statement with explicit "undef"};
+Readonly::Scalar my $EXPL => [ 199 ];
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+sub supported_parameters { return () }
+sub default_severity { return $SEVERITY_HIGHEST }
+sub default_themes { return qw(core pbp bugs) }
+sub applies_to { return 'PPI::Token::Word' }
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+sub violates {
+ my ( $self, $elem, undef ) = @_;
+ return if ($elem ne 'return');
+ return if is_hash_key($elem);
+
+ my $sib = $elem->snext_sibling();
+ return if !$sib;
+ return if !$sib->isa('PPI::Token::Word');
+ return if $sib ne 'undef';
+
+ # Must be 'return undef'
+ return $self->violation( $DESC, $EXPL, $elem );
+}
+
+1;
+
+__END__
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=pod
+
+=head1 NAME
+
+Perl::Critic::Policy::Subroutines::ProhibitExplicitReturnUndef - Return failure with bare C<return> instead of C<return undef>.
+
+=head1 AFFILIATION
+
+This Policy is part of the core L<Perl::Critic> distribution.
+
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+Returning C<undef> upon failure from a subroutine is pretty common.
+But if the subroutine is called in list context, an explicit C<return
+undef;> statement will return a one-element list containing
+C<(undef)>. Now if that list is subsequently put in a boolean context
+to test for failure, then it evaluates to true. But you probably
+wanted it to be false.
+
+ sub read_file {
+ my $file = shift;
+ -f $file || return undef; #file doesn't exist!
+
+ #Continue reading file...
+ }
+
+ #and later...
+
+ if ( my @data = read_file($filename) ){
+
+ # if $filename doesn't exist,
+ # @data will be (undef),
+ # but I'll still be in here!
+
+ process(@data);
+ }
+ else{
+
+ # This is my error handling code.
+ # I probably want to be in here
+ # if $filname doesn't exist.
+
+ die "$filename not found";
+ }
+
+The solution is to just use a bare C<return> statement whenever you
+want to return failure. In list context, Perl will then give you an
+empty list (which is false), and C<undef> in scalar context (which is
+also false).
+
+ sub read_file {
+ my $file = shift;
+ -f $file || return; #DWIM!
+
+ #Continue reading file...
+ }
+
+
+=head1 CONFIGURATION
+
+This Policy is not configurable except for the standard options.
+
+
+=head1 NOTES
+
+You can fool this policy pretty easily by hiding C<undef> in a boolean
+expression. But don't bother trying. In fact, using return values to
+indicate failure is pretty poor technique anyway. Consider using
+C<die> or C<croak> with C<eval>, or the L<Error> module for a much
+more robust exception-handling model. Conway has a real nice
+discussion on error handling in chapter 13 of PBP.
+
+=head1 AUTHOR
+
+Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer <thaljef@cpan.org>
+
+=head1 COPYRIGHT
+
+Copyright (c) 2005-2008 Jeffrey Ryan Thalhammer. All rights reserved.
+
+This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the same terms as Perl itself. The full text of this license
+can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.
+
+=cut
+
+# Local Variables:
+# mode: cperl
+# cperl-indent-level: 4
+# fill-column: 78
+# indent-tabs-mode: nil
+# c-indentation-style: bsd
+# End:
+# ex: set ts=8 sts=4 sw=4 tw=78 ft=perl expandtab shiftround :