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  3. I just used a goto!

I just used a goto!

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  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

    The important thing with goto is knowing when not to use it - which is most of the time. :laugh: Goto has its place, but if you can use a structured loop or branch instead then your code is generally cleaner and more maintainable. But very occasionally, using a goto makes your code cleaner or much more efficient and (provided it's well documented) isn't a problem. It's a problem when it's used because they can: and teachers who introduce it early should be hung, drawn, and quartered (and I don't mean "well hung", "sketched", and "given an apartment").

    Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

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    RJOberg
    wrote on last edited by
    #19

    OriginalGriff wrote:

    teachers who introduce it early should be hung, drawn, and quartered (and I don't mean "well hung", "sketched", and "given an apartment").

    My CS teacher introduced them early. However it was more of a "Here is the goto statement, here is how it can go horribly wrong, and that is why you should never use it again... ever. If you do, you will fail whatever assignment it was in." sort of way. While it was a bit over dramatic, she did follow up with how to better handle branching/looping logic without them.

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    • S swampwiz

      The only time "goto" is warranted is if in a nested structure where to accomplish the code control, a flag would need to be set and then checked more than once by the control statements within which this decision to break out is needed. I think I have used it 3 times, and all times, I gave a very good comment as to why it was the proper choice.

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      Lost User
      wrote on last edited by
      #20

      goto is NOT the enemy, it's only when it's used wrongly. but also ... contrary to popular belief disguising it fixes nothing ... if you really need to GOTO, just do it - hiding it only increases the bullshit level. unfortunatelly, there are teachers that tell the kids "GOTO is bad," but then "to do the same thing..." they then go on and teach the kids how to disguise them, i.e. instead use THROW, or stick the [inner] code in a method and return early (i.e. still in an indefinite state). ffs, really! I've got no problems with goto, but I do have issues with (1) shit code, and even more (2) attempts to hide shit code

      Message Signature (Click to edit ->)

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      • M musefan

        Aw man... you can't just drop that on us and not show us the code! That's just mean!!! :((

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        Super Lloyd
        wrote on last edited by
        #21

        Mm.. it took me 2 hours to write the function.. that doesn't have goto in it in the end! :laugh: To be fair both the function was complicated and I was distracted! ;P

        A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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        • S Super Lloyd

          I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

          A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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          gardnerp
          wrote on last edited by
          #22

          Obligatory XKCD[^] GOTO is perfectly fine in some scenarios. It's a language feature not a bug. I have used maybe 4 over the past 15 years. So not common, but absolutely has its place.

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          • S Super Lloyd

            I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

            A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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            Munchies_Matt
            wrote on last edited by
            #23

            Why not use them? Sometimes they make sense. Spaghetti code is spaghetti code regardless whether it uses classes, is structured, or just plain crap.

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            • M Munchies_Matt

              Why not use them? Sometimes they make sense. Spaghetti code is spaghetti code regardless whether it uses classes, is structured, or just plain crap.

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              glennPattonWork3
              wrote on last edited by
              #24

              Coming from a embedded back ground, GOTO maps directly to JMP! write assembly without JMP. Like you said I battled with object oriented code that is c*ap but well structured. I like anything don't blame the tools, blame the tool using the tool! ;)

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              • S Super Lloyd

                I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                Forogar
                wrote on last edited by
                #25

                I once used a "computed goto" - it was in FORTRAN where this kind of thing used to be expected! X| GOTO is my go-to command I go to when I need a goto.

                - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

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                • G glennPattonWork3

                  Coming from a embedded back ground, GOTO maps directly to JMP! write assembly without JMP. Like you said I battled with object oriented code that is c*ap but well structured. I like anything don't blame the tools, blame the tool using the tool! ;)

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                  Munchies_Matt
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #26

                  I have seen some terrible C++ code, the worst was a child of a parent, instantiated as the parent. SO child * myclass = new parent. WTF! Which frigging function is going to get called, the base class or the overridden one! I wanted to punch the person who wrote that.

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                  • S Super Lloyd

                    I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                    A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                    Chris Losinger
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #27

                    Find In Files / Current Project / "goto" Matching lines: 1254 it's common in C, as it's the cleanest way to handle error conditions.

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                    • S swampwiz

                      I think the only time that exception handling should be used is when the current code section does not have any control over the code that is throwing the exception - i.e., it is preferable to check and control something than to rely on an exception that simply does a goto the catch branch.

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                      Rick York
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #28

                      I can agree with that. I had the misfortune of having to deal with an automation systems framework that was essentially a state machine library and it changed states by throwing an exception. I thought it was incredibly stupid. This framework was spreading throughout one division of a customer until someone finally pulled their head out and asked what is this pile you have subjected us to? This particular customer joined my very short list of the worst ones I have ever dealt with and I refuse to buy any of their products to this day.

                      "They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

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                      • S Super Lloyd

                        I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                        A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                        Nelek
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #29

                        In high level languages... Ok, maybe you have more possibilities and you should avoid using goto's But try to programm in Assembly, in PLC LAD or other similar "low" level languages without it. It is like many other things. Use it wisely and there would be no problems. Abuse or misuse it... and you will burn in hell (or you will be damned and sent to hell by the people who inherit your code)

                        M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

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                        • D DRHuff

                          To avoid this you can put the entire code block in a try. Put the catch at the go to label and throw an exception where you call the goto. Because that’s different somehow!

                          Socialism is the Axe Body Spray of political ideologies: It never does what it claims to do, but people too young to know better keep buying it anyway. (Glenn Reynolds)

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                          Nelek
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #30

                          And what happens when the language you are programing in offers no try-catch-throw?

                          M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

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                          • S swampwiz

                            I think the only time that exception handling should be used is when the current code section does not have any control over the code that is throwing the exception - i.e., it is preferable to check and control something than to rely on an exception that simply does a goto the catch branch.

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                            raddevus
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #31

                            agreed. I'm thinking of calls to another library where it throws a specific exception after being configured properly. In that case all inputs are set to valid values but then something happens which causes the exception - network not available or something.

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                            • S Super Lloyd

                              I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                              A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                              PIEBALDconsult
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #32

                              while ( true ) { ... break ... }

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                              • P PIEBALDconsult

                                while ( true ) { ... break ... }

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                                Chris Losinger
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #33

                                also

                                for (;;) { break; }

                                do { break; } while(0);

                                that's just pretending. everyone knows that break is a goto. own it!

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                                • S Super Lloyd

                                  I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                                  A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                                  Dr Walt Fair PE
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #34

                                  Everytime, I thought I needed a goto, I found I could just put a return inthe middle of a loop. That's a more better way to make things sucky.

                                  CQ de W5ALT

                                  Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software

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                                  • S Super Lloyd

                                    I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                                    A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                                    Slacker007
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #35

                                    Gotos are fine. Like, "I will be back in 30 minutes. I have to GOTO the store." I have to GOTO the baseball game. :thumbsup: :laugh:

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                                    • S Super Lloyd

                                      I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                                      A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                                      Marc Clifton
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #36

                                      1. Create a workflow manager using generics, interfaces, class abstraction, enums for state and continuation. 2. Break up your code into small workflow steps. 3. On each step, check for termination. 4. Or to get really fancy, return a code that says what step in the workflow to skip to. 5. If you really want to be cool, allow for async workflow steps! ;)

                                      Latest Article - A 4-Stack rPI Cluster with WiFi-Ethernet Bridging Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802

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                                      • S Slacker007

                                        Gotos are fine. Like, "I will be back in 30 minutes. I have to GOTO the store." I have to GOTO the baseball game. :thumbsup: :laugh:

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                                        Daniel Pfeffer
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #37

                                        Slacker007 wrote:

                                        I have to GOTO the store

                                        Except that's really a function call - you do intend to RETURN from the grocery store, don't you?

                                        Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

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                                        • S Super Lloyd

                                          I know "it's bad" and I will be shun by all good developers and rich employers for a thousands years... But I look at it.. I can't find of anything better.. mm, maybe a private inner function (i.e. function inside a method).... followed by misplaced return.... mm....

                                          A new .NET Serializer All in one Menu-Ribbon Bar Taking over the world since 1371!

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                                          Daniel Pfeffer
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #38

                                          :omg: :wtf: Nuke the location in which the GOTO was used, sow the glass crater with salt, and plow it in. Then scatter biological and chemical agents all around the area, making it inaccessible for 10,000 years!

                                          Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

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