NEXITS — Number of Exit Points - mehen

NEXITS counts the number of exit points each function/method has. The classic structured-programming recommendation is one exit per function — a high NEXITS suggests the function ought to be split.

What mehen emits

Key	Type	Description
`nexit`	int	Total exit points across functions in the space.
`nexit.average`	float	Mean exit-point count per function.
`nexit.min`	int	Minimum across functions.
`nexit.max`	int	Maximum across functions.
`nexit.sum`	int	Sum across child spaces.

What counts as an exit

Each language analyzer maps its language’s exit-flow constructs:

return and value-returning expressions.
throw / raise / panic! statements.
yield / yield return (generator functions).
exit, os.exit, and the equivalent process-exit calls where unambiguous.
Labeled break that exits the function (rare in practice).

The count is per-function: the parser walks each function body and adds 1 per matching node.

How to read it

`nexit`	Interpretation
1	Single exit point — classic structured style.
2–4	Pragmatic — early returns for guard clauses are a popular style.
5+	Function does multiple things — extract methods.

Modern Rust, TypeScript, and Kotlin codebases tend to use early returns liberally. A NEXITS of 3–4 is not, by itself, a problem. Read NEXITS alongside Cognitive complexity — if both are high, the function is likely a refactor candidate.

References

Dijkstra, E. W. (1968). Go To Statement Considered Harmful. Communications of the ACM, 11(3).
Sonar: Metrics definitions.

See also

Cyclomatic complexity — exit points are not branches; they’re orthogonal.
NARGS — argument count.
NOM — number of methods.