goto Statement in C++

February 17, 2023

About C goto statement:

On this page we will discuss about the use of goto statement in C++.
The goto statement is a jump statement ,which is used to transfer the program control from one location to another location. It is also knows as unconditional jump statement and it can alter the normal flow of code.

What is C++ goto statement ?

In C language, the goto statement is used as unconditional jump statement which is used to jump from one statement to another statement at another location. By using the goto statement you can jump to above and below the current code flow.

Note: We can use goto statement when we want to exit the nested loops or multiple loops instead of break statement for each loop.

Syntax

goto label;
... .. ...
... .. ...
label: 
statement;

Here, label cannot be the keyword. Basically label is an identifier. When goto is encountered the flow of code is transferred from that statement to label and the statements below it gets executed.

Disadvantages of goto statement :

Since,goto statement is a unconditional statement,the efficiency of the program reduces by moving the control from one point to another unconditionally.
The goto statement can be use to move the control up or down which may lead to infinite loop.

Example :

 x:statement-1;
   statement-2;
   statement-3;
  goto x;

If we increase the number of goto statement in a program then the tracing become difficult.

Flowchart:

Example:

Run

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
  int k = 12;
LOOP:do
    {
      if (k == 14)
	{
	  k = k + 1;
	  goto LOOP;      //goto statemet
	}
	
      printf ("value of k: %d\n", k);
      k++;

    }
  while (k < 25);

  return 0;
}

Output:

value of k: 12
value of k: 13
value of k: 15
value of k: 16
value of k: 17
value of k: 18
value of k: 19
value of k: 20
value of k: 21
value of k: 22
value of k: 23
value of k: 24

NOTE: The goto statement is highly discouraged as it increase the logic complexity of code and decrease the readability.

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