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name: refactor-simplify-branching description: "[Code Quality] Simplifies complex conditionals: deep nesting, long if-else chains, switch sprawl. Use when control flow is hard to follow or has high cyclomatic complexity."

Refactor: Simplify Branching

Reduce conditional complexity for better readability.

Techniques

1. Guard Clauses (Early Return)

Replace deep nesting with flat guards.

2. Replace Conditionals with Polymorphism

Use protocol dispatch instead of type checking.

3. Replace Nested Conditionals with Table

Use lookup tables for multi-dimensional conditions.

4. Decompose Compound Conditionals

Extract complex conditions to named variables or methods.

5. Replace Flag Arguments

Create separate methods instead of boolean flags.

Warning Signs

• Nesting > 3 levels deep
• More than 3 else-if branches
• Switch with > 5 cases
• Condition spans multiple lines