Goto (was Re: CHGPF Question)

[DAsmussen@xxxxxxx]

John,

In a message dated 97-09-23 13:40:02 EDT, you write:

> I definitely do not want to get the GOTO thread going again but I
>  would like to share how we use GOTOs.  We do much of our development
>  on the AS/400 using ILE C and we have created standards on how
>  functions are designed that include the extensive use of GOTOs, although
>  the GOTOs are "hidden" by the use of macros.

I don't want to get the GOTO thread started again either (lest I be forced to
kill someone)!  However, as mentioned in previous threads regarding JAVA, my
C experience has "gone by the wayside".  Having worked on another platform
that required GOTO's for exception handling, is the following the ONLY way to
do this in ILE C?

>  Example (pseudocode):
>  
>  Begin Function/Subroutine
>  
>     Call/do something                   
>     CHECK_EXCEPTION(if error,ERROR1);  (IF error occurred GOTO ERROR1)
>  
>     Call/do something else
>     CHECK_EXCEPTION(if error,ERROR2);  (IF error occurred GOTO ERROR2)
>     EXIT;  (GOTO EXIT)  /* Mainline processing completed successfully */
>  
>  ERROR1:
>     Handle error
>     EXIT;
>  
>  ERROR2:
>     Handle error
>     EXIT;
>  
>  EXIT:
>     Function clean up 
>   
>  End Function/Subroutine
>  
>  We believe the use of GOTOs in this structured manner results in code
>  that is well organized (e.g., separation of mainline and error logic,
>  one function exit point) and much easier to read (e.g., reduces number
>  nested IF/THEN/ELSES) and maintain.  

Reserving judgement.

>  In the past I have had to maintain RPG programs that were loaded with
>  GOTOs that jumped all over the place- I would not wish that code on
>  anybody.  Coming from a computer science background I just cannot
>  understand how someone can write code like that.   But then again, I
>  look back at some of my old code and wonder what I was thinking.
>  
>  By the way, I have only encountered two cases that I can recall that
>  absolutely required the use of GOTOs:
>  1)College program where we had to simulate recursion
>  2)CL (and any other language that does not have the minimal keywords/
>    op codes needed to write structured code)

2) is another example for my previous question, hence my reticence in
debunking the methodolgy outright...

>  Structure is not a four letter word,

Nor should it be...

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-Mail:  DAsmussen@AOL.COM (for now)

"Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier." -- Charles F.
Kettering
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