Early returns are very useful, just like break/continue. For example, I find it much easier to write for filename in os.listdir(dirname): if not fi

Early returns are very useful, just like break/continue. For example, I find it much easier to write for filename in os.listdir(dirname): if not filename.endswith(".png") and not filename.endswith(".jpg"): continue # process a png or jpg image than to try and have a nested `if filename.endswith(".png") or filename.endswith(".jpg")`, particularly as it drops one nesting level and is easier to read. Unfortunately, Python lacks targeted break/continue so you can't break out of two nested loops without some contortions; in such cases, I find it useful to refactor code into smaller functions just to be able to use early return from a nested context.