> if (need_free == true)
> Is such a horrible code smell to me. You have a perfectly good boolean. Why compare it to a second boolean to get a third boolean?
> if (need_free)
You are probably interested if the `need_free` flag is set to true, and not if `need_free`. It is true that `if (need_free)` has the same behaviour, but it is some steps farther from what you are interested in.
This feels to me like you're introducing the same unnecessary extra layer into your text as in the original code. I mean, why not
"You are probably interested in whether it's true that the 'need_free' flag is set to true"
leading to
> if ((need_free == true) == true)
? Answer: because that extra layer of indirection adds nothing, and just gives you a bit of extra cognitive load and an extra opportunity to make mistakes. I think the same is true about going from "need_free" to "need_free is set to true".
(This becomes less clear if you have variable names like 'need_free_flag'. I say: so don't do that then! It's almost always appropriate to give boolean values and functions that return boolean values names that reflect what it means when the value is true.)
