Conditional Create: must be the only statement in the batch

I only want to create this SQL function if the dependent Assembly exists.
I can do it using dynamic SQL, but it seems messy and I lose syntax checking (in
management studio). This function's dependency (for various reasons) may or may
not be available on an individual developers machine, and I don't want to
interrupt our local "get latest" process with an error if this is the case.

Is there a better way?

--Attempt 1 (FAILS)
IF  EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.assemblies WHERE name = 'SQL_CLR_Functions')
BEGIN
    CREATE FUNCTION dbo.CLR_CharList_Split(@list nvarchar(MAX), @delim nchar(1) = N',')
    RETURNS TABLE (str nvarchar(4000)) AS EXTERNAL NAME SQL_CLR_Functions.[Library.SQL.CLR.Functions].CLR_CharList_Split
END

--Attempt 2 (FAILS)
BEGIN TRY
    CREATE FUNCTION dbo.CLR_CharList_Split(@list nvarchar(MAX), @delim nchar(1) = N',')
    RETURNS TABLE (str nvarchar(4000)) AS EXTERNAL NAME SQL_CLR_Functions.[Library.SQL.CLR.Functions].CLR_CharList_Split
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
END CATCH

--Attempt 3 (FAILS)
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.assemblies WHERE name = 'SQL_CLR_Functions')
BEGIN
 GOTO END_CLR;
END
GO
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.CLR_CharList_Split(@list nvarchar(MAX), @delim nchar(1) = N',')
RETURNS TABLE (str nvarchar(4000)) AS EXTERNAL NAME SQL_CLR_Functions.[Library.SQL.CLR.Functions].CLR_CharList_Split
GO
END_CLR:

--Attempt 4 (WORKS!!!)
IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.assemblies WHERE name = 'SQL_CLR_Functions')
BEGIN
    EXEC (N'CREATE FUNCTION dbo.CLR_CharList_Split(@list nvarchar(MAX), @delim nchar(1) = N'','')
            RETURNS TABLE (str nvarchar(4000)) AS EXTERNAL NAME SQL_CLR_Functions.[Library.SQL.CLR.Functions].CLR_CharList_Split')
END

You could use the SET NOEXEC statement, which controls whether the subsequent statements are executed (OFF) or not (ON). Use it in conjunction with your EXISTS test like this:

IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.assemblies WHERE name = 'SQL_CLR_Functions')
  SET NOEXEC ON
GO
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.CLR_CharList_Split(@list nvarchar(MAX), @delim nchar(1) = N',')
RETURNS TABLE (str nvarchar(4000)) AS EXTERNAL NAME SQL_CLR_Functions.[Granite.SQL.CLR.Functions].CLR_CharList_Split
GO
SET NOEXEC OFF

StackExchange Code Review Q#10490, answer score: 19