In languages that have automatic garbage collection, returning early doesn't have that disadvantage. In fact, Rubocop, a static code analyzer for Ruby, encourages you to refactor methods to return early when you are checking parameters. That's called a guard clause. In my own experience, it really helps clear up nasty if/else chains in certain ... More @Wikipedia
Hover over any link to get a description of the article. Please note that search keywords are sometimes hidden within the full article and don't appear in the description or title.