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PY-R1000

Function with cyclomatic complexity higher than thresholdPY-R1000

Minor severityMinor
Anti-pattern categoryAnti-pattern

A function with high cyclomatic complexity can be hard to understand and maintain. Cyclomatic complexity is a software metric that measures the number of independent paths through a function. A higher cyclomatic complexity indicates that the function has more decision points and is more complex.

Functions with high cyclomatic complexity are more likely to have bugs and be harder to test. They may lead to reduced code maintainability and increased development time.

To reduce the cyclomatic complexity of a function, you can:

  • Break the function into smaller, more manageable functions.
  • Refactor complex logic into separate functions or classes.
  • Avoid multiple return paths and deeply nested control expressions.

Bad practice

def number_to_name():
    number = input()
    if not number.isdigit():
        print("Enter a valid number")
        return

    number = int(number)
    if number >= 10:
        print("Number is too big")
        return

    if number == 1:
        print("one")
    elif number == 2:
        print("two")
    elif number == 3:
        print("three")
    elif number == 4:
        print("four")
    elif number == 5:
        print("five")
    elif number == 6:
        print("six")
    elif number == 7:
        print("seven")
    elif number == 8:
        print("eight")
    elif number == 9:
        print("nine")
def number_to_name():
    number = input()
    if not number.isdigit():
        print("Enter a valid number")
        return

    number = int(number)
    if number >= 10:
        print("Number is too big")
        return

    names = {
      1: "one",
      2: "two",
      3: "three",
      4: "four",
      5: "five",
      6: "six",
      7: "seven",
      8: "eight",
      9: "nine",
    }
    print(names[number])

Issue configuration

Cyclomatic complexity threshold can be configured using the cyclomatic_complexity_threshold meta field in the .deepsource.toml config file. Configuring this is optional. If you don't provide a value, the Analyzer will raise issues for functions with complexity higher than the default threshold, which is medium for the Python Analyzer.

Here's the mapping of the risk category to the cyclomatic complexity score to help you configure this better:

Risk categoryCyclomatic complexity rangeRecommended action
low1-5No action needed.
medium6-15Review and monitor.
high16-25Review and refactor. Recommended to add comments if the function is absolutely needed to be kept as it is.
very-high26-50Refactor to reduce the complexity.
critical>50Must refactor this. This can make the code untestable and very difficult to understand.