Should a return statement be inside or outside a lock?

Question

I realized that sometimes I have the return statement inside the lock and other times I have it outside. Which is better?

1.

void example()
{
    lock (mutex)
    {
        //...
    }
    return myData;
}

void example()
{
    lock (mutex)
    {
        //...
        return myData;
    }
}

Which one should I use?

Answer 1

Essentially, which-ever makes the code simpler. Single point of exit is a nice ideal, but I wouldn't bend the code out of shape just to achieve it... And if the alternative is declaring a local variable (outside the lock), initializing it (inside the lock) and then returning it (outside the lock), then I'd say that a simple "return foo" inside the lock is a lot simpler.

To show the difference in IL, lets code:

static class Program
{
    static void Main() { }

    static readonly object sync = new object();

    static int GetValue() { return 5; }

    static int ReturnInside()
    {
        lock (sync)
        {
            return GetValue();
        }
    }

    static int ReturnOutside()
    {
        int val;
        lock (sync)
        {
            val = GetValue();
        }
        return val;
    }
}

(note that I'd happily argue that ReturnInside is a simpler/cleaner bit of C#)

And look at the IL (release mode etc):

.method private hidebysig static int32 ReturnInside() cil managed
{
    .maxstack 2
    .locals init (
        [0] int32 CS$1$0000,
        [1] object CS$2$0001)
    L_0000: ldsfld object Program::sync
    L_0005: dup 
    L_0006: stloc.1 
    L_0007: call void [mscorlib]System.Threading.Monitor::Enter(object)
    L_000c: call int32 Program::GetValue()
    L_0011: stloc.0 
    L_0012: leave.s L_001b
    L_0014: ldloc.1 
    L_0015: call void [mscorlib]System.Threading.Monitor::Exit(object)
    L_001a: endfinally 
    L_001b: ldloc.0 
    L_001c: ret 
    .try L_000c to L_0014 finally handler L_0014 to L_001b
} 

method private hidebysig static int32 ReturnOutside() cil managed
{
    .maxstack 2
    .locals init (
        [0] int32 val,
        [1] object CS$2$0000)
    L_0000: ldsfld object Program::sync
    L_0005: dup 
    L_0006: stloc.1 
    L_0007: call void [mscorlib]System.Threading.Monitor::Enter(object)
    L_000c: call int32 Program::GetValue()
    L_0011: stloc.0 
    L_0012: leave.s L_001b
    L_0014: ldloc.1 
    L_0015: call void [mscorlib]System.Threading.Monitor::Exit(object)
    L_001a: endfinally 
    L_001b: ldloc.0 
    L_001c: ret 
    .try L_000c to L_0014 finally handler L_0014 to L_001b
}

So at the IL level they are [give or take some names] identical (I learnt something ;-p). As such, the only sensible comparison is the (highly subjective) law of local coding style... I prefer ReturnInside for simplicity, but I wouldn't get excited about either.