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Annotated edit history of GoTo version 8, including all changes. View license author blame.
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6 AristotlePagaltzis 1 A statement in many ProgrammingLanguage~s which causes an unconditional branch to an arbitary point in the current function or method. In a host of early [BASIC] dialects, it was the only control structure available besides <tt>if</tt> statements.
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6 AristotlePagaltzis 3 Despite being maligned in general use, GoTo is still the best way to describe FiniteStateMachine~s such as parsers in these languages.
3 PerryLorier 4
8 AristotlePagaltzis 5 The apprentice uses it without thinking.
6 <br> The journeyman avoids it without thinking.
7 <br> The master uses it thoughtfully.
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9 It’s also used in [C] programming a lot to provide something resembling “exceptions”, particularly “finally” clauses: a <tt>goto out</tt> where <tt>out</tt> is a label just before the final <tt>return</tt>.
2 StuartYeates 10
6 AristotlePagaltzis 11 See GoToStatementConsideredHarmful.
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14 Part of CategoryProgramming