Cpp Goto Statement

C++ goto statement

Created By: chatGPT

The goto statement in C++ is used to jump to a specified label within a function. While it provides a way to transfer control, its use is generally discouraged because it can lead to spaghetti code—code that is unstructured and hard to follow. However, there are legitimate scenarios where goto can be useful for simplicity, such as breaking out of deeply nested loops or handling cleanup operations. Here's an example demonstrating how to use the goto statement:

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    int a = 0;

    start:
    std::cout << "Value of a: " << a << std::endl;
    a++;

    if (a < 5) {
        goto start; // Jump back to the 'start' label
    }

    std::cout << "Finished!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

In this example, a variable a is initialized to 0, and a label called start is defined. The program prints the value of a, increments it by 1, and uses the goto statement to jump back to the label as long as a is less than 5. Once a reaches 5, the loop terminates, and the program outputs 'Finished!'. When you compile and run this code, you will see how the goto effectively manages the control flow in this case, but be aware of potential readability issues when using it in larger programs.