当控制结构中需要明确的“else”时？

Question

What should one use? This, without else:

function($condition) {
    if($condition) {
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

Or this, with an else:

function($condition) {
    if($condition) {
        return true;
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

What are potential drawbacks?

Note: I understand that right solution for this very example would be

function($condition) {
    return (boolean)$condition;
}

Answer 1

In some cases it is possible to increase readability by setting "else" aside. Two examples below are eqiuvalent. Second produces less code, though it will suit only when we return values without complex calculations in that block, but again, we can utilize functions to make it usable.

function($a, $b) {
    if($a) {
        if($a > $b) {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

function($a, $b) {
    if($a) {
        if($a > $b) {
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}

Note: if not speaking about general cases with more complex conditions assumption, this should fold to:

function($a, $b) {
    return ($a and $a > $b);
}