Comment by josephg

> The latter is not only more readable, but it is safer, because a match statement can ensure all possibilities are covered.

Whether or not this matters depends on what, exactly, is in those match arms. Sometimes there's some symmetry to the arms of an if statement. And in that case, being exhaustive is important. But there's plenty of times where I really just have a bit of bookkeeping to do, or an early return or something. And I only want to do it in certain cases. Eg if condition { break; } else { stuff(); }

Also, if-else is exhaustive already. Its still exhaustive even if you add more "else if" clauses, like if {} else if {} else {}.

Match makes sense when the arms of the conditional are more symmetrical. Or when you're dealing with an enum. Or when you want to avoid repeating conditions. (Eg match a.cmp(b) { Greater / Equal / Less } ).

The best way to structure your code in general really comes down to what you're trying to do. Sometimes if statements are cleaner. Sometimes match expressions. It just depends on the situation.