what is goto statement in java

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Goto Statement in Programming

Goto statement is a control flow statement present in certain programming languages like C and C++. It enables programmers to transfer program control to a labeled section of code within the same function or block. Despite its availability, its usage is often discouraged in modern programming practices due to its potential to complicate code structure and reduce readability. In this article, we will discuss about a Goto statement used in programming.

Table of Content

What is a Goto Statement?

• Syntax of Goto Statement
• Common Use Cases of Goto Statement
• Goto Statement in C
• Goto Statement in C++
• Goto Statement in C#
• Best Practices of Goto Statement

The goto statement, found in languages like C and C++, allows the program to jump to a labeled section of code within the same function or block . The goto statement can be used to jump from anywhere to anywhere within a function. 

Syntax of Goto Statement:

The basic syntax of the goto statement is as follows:

Here, the label is a predefined identifier followed by a colon (:), marking a specific location in the code.

Common Use Cases of Goto Statement:

While the goto statement can be misused and lead to “messy code,” there are some scenarios where it may be considered useful:

• Breaking out of nested loops.
• Jumping to a common error-handling section.
• Implementing state machines or complex state transitions.

However, its usage is often discouraged due to its potential to create complex and difficult-to-follow code structures, making the code harder to understand and maintain.

Goto Statement in C:

Here are the implementation of goto statement in C language:

Goto Statement in C++:

Here are the implementation of goto statement in C++ language:

Goto Statement in C#:

Here are the implementation of goto statement in C# language:

Goto Statement is not supported in Java, Python and JavaScript.

Best Practices of Goto Statement:

• Avoid Usage : In general, it is recommended to avoid using goto as it can lead to difficult-to-understand and error-prone code.
• Structured Programming : Utilize structured programming constructs like loops and conditionals to achieve the desired flow without resorting to goto.
• Exception Handling : For error-handling scenarios, prefer using exception handling mechanisms provided by the language.
• Code Review : If goto is deemed necessary, ensure thorough code reviews to mitigate potential issues and maintain code quality.

Conclusion:

In Conclusion, the goto statement, present in languages like C and C++, allows programmers to jump to a labeled section of code. However, its use is discouraged due to its tendency to make code less readable and harder to maintain. Many modern programming languages do not include the goto statement as part of their syntax.

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Java Keyword label With the Keyword Break

Java keyword label with the keyword continue.

Unlike other programming languages, Java does not have goto . Instead, Java contains the keyword label .

The keyword label is to change a program’s flow and jump to another section of the program based on the specified condition.

As we know, two basic keywords, break and continue , are used to change the direction of a loop. If you are working with loops, the keyword continue will skip a specific part of code inside your loop based on the condition and the keyword break will take you to program out of the loop based on the specific condition.

The keyword label is only useful before the nested loop statements. You can also use the specified label name by combining the break and continue keywords.

In this article, we are going to see how we can use the keyword label in our Java program and also we are going to discuss the topic by using necessary examples and explanations to make the topic easier.

In our example below, we will learn how to use label in our Java program. The example is very simple.

The code will be as follows:

In the example, we first created a class named JavaGoto and a label named end: . After that, we created a loop through the line for (int i=0;i<9;i++) , and inside the loop, we created a condition to stop the loop when the value of i equals 5.

When the value of i equals 5, we will break the loop and print the output.

You will get the below output when you run the program.

In this next example, we will look at another example where we combined label with the keyword continue . The code will look like this:

In the example above, we first created a class named JavaGoto and a label name cont: . After that, we created a loop through the line for (int i=0;i<9;i++) , and inside the loop, we created a condition to skip the action for the loop when the value of i equals 5.

When the value of i equals 5, we will skip the current action for the loop and print the output.

Now when you run the above program, you will get an output like the one below.

Please note that the code examples shared here are in Java, and you must install Java on your environment if your system doesn’t contain Java.

Aminul Is an Expert Technical Writer and Full-Stack Developer. He has hands-on working experience on numerous Developer Platforms and SAAS startups. He is highly skilled in numerous Programming languages and Frameworks. He can write professional technical articles like Reviews, Programming, Documentation, SOP, User manual, Whitepaper, etc.

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Jump statements in java: an overview.

Jump statements in Java are control flow statements that let you change the order in which programs execute. These statements provide flexibility and control over program logic to the programmer.  If you are looking to enhance your Java programming skills and gain a comprehensive understanding of jump statements, consider enrolling in Java Online Training . In this Java tutorial , we'll cover these statements and how they're used with Java.

What are Jump Statements in Java?

In Java, a jump statement is used for transferring the control of the program from one particular point to another point of the program, allowing for changes in the flow of execution.

This particular statement works by jumping from one specific code to another one, thus exhibiting polymorphism in Java , to the flow of the execution of the program. "Jump Statements" are also called " Branching Statements in Java " as they evaluate different branches to enhance the flow of the execution.

Read More - Advanced Java Interview Questions

Types of Jump Statements in Java

There are three major variations of the jumping statements in JAVA . Those are "Break statement", "Continue statement" and "Return statement". These will be discussed further in this article. Not only that we’ll give you a clear idea about Java constructor in our next article.

Read More: Looping Statements in Java

1. Break statement in Java

• A break statement in Java assists in terminating the execution of a loop in a particular program.
• This statement transfers the control of the program to the next statement which is immediately after the current loop or switch.
• A break statement is used in an existing statement of a loop, especially an infinite loop, to exit from it.
• There are 3 types of Break Statements, those are "Exiting a Loop", "As a form of Goto", and "In a switch case".

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Example: Use Break to Exit a Loop

Example: use break as a form of goto, example: use break in a switch case.

Read More: Switch Statement in Java

2. Continue statement in Java

• The continue statement in Java never terminates the execution of any loops.
• It can only work inside the "loop statement".
• The primary job of the "Continue statement" is the iteration of that specific loop.
• Continue statement assists the bypass of all the other statements by making them fall under it.
• The nature of the Continue statement is to skip the current iteration and force for the next one.

3. Return statement in Java

• The return statement in Java is a type of jump statement which is primarily used only inside the functions or methods.
• If in a method, any code is written after using the Return statement that can be treated as an unreachable statement by the compiler.
• The purpose of using a Return statement is to terminate the current method of execution and transfer the control to the next "calling method".
• There are two types of Return statements, which are "Return with a value" and "Return without a value".

It's important to understand jump statements in Java, as they are essential tools in a programmer's toolkit. With the break, continue, and return statements at your disposal, you can ensure that your code is efficient, optimized, and easily readable.  As each of these statements has its unique applications, it's important to understand where and when to make use of them, which is a valuable skill to acquire during Java Certification .

Q1. Which is not a valid jump statement in Java?

Q2. which jump statement is used to terminate the program, q3. what is the difference between the goto statement and the break statement, q4. what is the purpose of jump statements, live classes schedule.

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Does Java support goto?

Unlike C/C++, Java does not have goto statement. This could be due to the reason that it makes difficult to trace the control flow of a program, making hard to understand and modify the program. Although, Java supports label statement which can be used to get the desired result.

The label statement is used with break or continue statements. It is used to prefix a statement with an identifier which can be referred. A label can be specified by any name other than the reserved words in Java. The syntax for using label is given below:

Label statement with Continue statement

A label is used to identify a loop, and then continue statement is used to indicate when to skip the current iteration.

The output of the above code will be:

In the example below, label statement is used to skip the inner and outer loop respectively whenever the conditions are met.

Label statement with Break statement

A label is used to identify a loop, and then break statement is used to indicate when to get out of the loop.

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By Dustin Marx , JavaWorld |

A software developer's public collection of tips and tricks, real-world solutions, and industry commentary related to Java programming.

Java's goto

There is an old programmer joke that goes something like this: One programmer in anger says to the second programmer, "Go to Hell!" The second programmer replies in obvious repulsion, "Ugh, you used goto!" The point of this nerdy humor is that to many programmers, use of "goto" is just about the worst offense one can commit.

There are several reasons that the goto is held in such low esteem among software developers. Edsger W. Dijkstra 's paper A Case Against the GO TO Statement is a relatively early treatise on the evils of GOTO abuse. In that article, Dijkstra states, "[I became] convinced that the go to statement should be abolished from all 'higher level' programming languages." Dijkstra's Go To Statement Considered Harmful letter not only lambasted the goto statement, but also started a popular computer science trend of using the phrase " considered harmful " (though those two words were apparently used outside of programming before that).

Many programmers since Dijkstra have been bitten by some of the maintainability problems associated with use of goto statements in certain languages. Other programmers have heard these stories or have had the "Thou shalt not use goto" pounded into them so much that they don't need to experience its drawbacks firsthand to believe that they should not use GOTO.

Although the goto statement appears to have a generally bad reputation, it is not without its supporters. Frank Rubin wrote a response to Dijkstra's Go To Statement Considered Harmful (March 1968) called GOTO Considered Harmful' Considered Harmful (March 1987). In that letter, Rubin wrote about Dijkstra's letter having an effect on programmers so dramatic that "the notion that the GOT0 is harmful is accepted almost universally, without question or doubt." Of this observation, Rubin wrote, "This has caused incalculable harm to the field of programming, which has lost an efficacious tool. It is like butchers banning knives because workers sometimes cut themselves." Note that Dijkstra responded to Rubin's letter with On a Somewhat Disappointing Correspondence . The Cunningham & Cunningham Wiki page Go To says this about the goto statement: "The apprentice uses it without thinking. The journeyman avoids it without thinking. The master uses it thoughtfully."

There are numerous other resources that cover the pros and cons of using the goto statement. I don't intend to rehash that debate here other than the brief presentation of the early history of the controversy already covered. I have heard some Java developers stating that Java does not have a goto statement and that is what I want to discuss in the remainder of this blog post.

Java does reserve "goto" as a reserved keyword . However, it is an unused keyword. What this means is that although the keyword does not actually do anything productive, it is also a word that cannot be used in code for names of variables or other constructs. For example, the following code will not compile:

If I try to compile that code, I see an error like that shown in the next screen snapshot.

The error message "<identifier> expected" with a pointer at the space before "goto" gives an experienced Java developer enough of a clue to quickly realize that there is something wrong about using "goto." However, it may not be as obvious to someone new to Java.

I generally do not use the goto construct, but I also recognize that there are situations in which its use makes for code that is more readable and uses less crazy work-arounds than not using it. In Java, this has also been realized and support is provided for some of the most common situations in which a goto statement would be most useful and would likely actually be preferable to alternatives. The most obvious examples of this are the labeled break and labeled continue statements. These are discussed and demonstrated in the Java Tutorials section Branching Statements .

The ability to label a particular statement and then have the break or continue apply to that statement rather than its most immediate statement (as an unlabeled break or continue does) is especially useful in cases where nested loops would otherwise require more code and more complex code to accomplish the same thing. I have found that I can often redesign my data structures and code to avoid such situations, but this is not always practical.

Another good resource related to use of goto-like functionality in Java is the 13 June 2000 JDC Tech Tip Goto Statements and Java Programming . As this tip points out, the labels can actually be used to any block and are not limited to break and continue . However, it is my experience that necessity of this approach outside of break and continue is far less common.

One important observation about labels is that code execution does not literally return to that label when the break somelabel is executed. Instead, execution flow goes to the statement immediately following the labeled statement. For example, if I had an outer for loop called "dustin:", then a break to that would actually go to the first executable statement following the end of that labeled for loop. In other words, it acts more like a "goto the statement following the labeled statement" command.

I don't provide any examples of using these labeled break or labeled continue statements here because there are plenty of good examples easily located online. Specifically, the two resources that I have already mentioned (Java Tutorials Branching Statements and Goto Statements and Java Programming Tech Tip) include simple illustrative examples.

The more I work in the software development industry, the more convinced I become that there are few absolutes in software development and that extremist positions will almost always be wrong at one point or another. I generally shy away from use of goto or goto-like code, but there are times when it is the best code for the job. Although Java does not have direct goto support, it provides goto-like support that meets most of my relatively infrequent needs for such support.

This story, "Java's goto" was originally published by JavaWorld .

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Dustin Marx is a principal software engineer and architect at Raytheon Company. His previous published work for JavaWorld includes Java and Flex articles and " More JSP best practices " (July 2003) and " JSP Best Practices" (November 2001).

Copyright © 2009 IDG Communications, Inc.

Goto Statement In Java

February 10, 2023

Goto Statement

In this article we will be discussing about Goto Statement in Java.

A goto statement in any  programming language provides an unconditional jump from the goto to a labeled statement in the same function.

Goto Statement  

Goto Statement in Java isn’t supported by Java. It is reserved as a keyword in the Java Virtual Machine,In case if they want to add it in a later version. Instead of Goto function, Java uses Label. Labels are used to change the flow of the program and jump to a specific instruction or label based on a condition.

Use of Break And Continue in Label:

Break and continue are used to break or to continue the program when the label function is called. These are the two reserved keywords in Java Virtual Machine.

Keywords and Variables

JVM vs JRE vs JDK

Type Conversion

How a code runs in Java

Use case of break statement with label:

Use case of continue statement with label:, prime course trailer, related banners.

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Use break as a Form of goto

In addition to its uses with the switch statement and loops, the break statement can be employed by itself to provide a “civilized” form of the goto statement. Java does not have a goto statement, because it provides an unstructured way to alter the flow of program execution. Programs that make extensive use of the goto are usually hard to understand and hard to maintain. There are, however, a few places where the goto is a useful and legitimate device. For example, the goto can be helpful when exiting from a deeply nested set of loops. To handle such situations, Java defines an expanded form of the break statement. By using this form of break , you can, for example, break out of one or more blocks of code. These blocks ...

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Using goto in Java has never been easier! Real gotos - not fake gotos and lame immitations.

footloosejava/goto

Folders and files.

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A library that supports the use of goto in Java programming with advanced Fortran style goto uses and full debugging support.

On-the-fly bytecode modification enables simple and advanced goto constructs in Java - not that you should ... [evil grin] ... but now you can [you probably shouldn't] !

Substitute these statements for gotos:

• Gotos -- Instead of goto [number] , use _goto(number) .
• Labels -- Instead of label [number] , use _label(number) .

Advanced uses:

Computed gotos -- Use _multiGoto(n,10,20,30 …) where n is the index that can change at runtime.

Multiple returns -- Labels followed by if(yes()){return;} will allow code to have many multiple returns after each label is reached. This is similar to goto:EOF after a DOS goto or a standard return after a fortran goto.

Why would anyone want to use gotos?

I suggest that you only use this library for experimenting, for research and possibly in translation or obfuscation. Gotos should never be part of any commercial or professional codebase. This library allows you do do things that are usually better done (in 99% of cases) with proper control flow constructs like for(..) , while(...) , switch() and other more declarative methods. Perhaps this goto library can be part of an educational lesson as to why gotos are bad for code readability and maintainability.

To get this Git project into your build:

Follow instructions at https://jitpack.io/#footloosejava/goto or these steps for Maven:

Step 1. Add the JitPack repository to your build file

Step 2. Add the dependency

Four Easy Steps to Using Gotos in your Java Program

Make sure your class extends the Goto interface.

Use _goto(n) instead of goto and _label(n) as the target. Labels and jumps must have set integer values, such as: _label(12) , _goto(12) , etc.

Computed gotos use _multiGoto(n,10,20,30 …) , where n is the index of label and where n is a value you change at runtime.

Use GotoLoader.newInstance(class) or GotoLoader.load(classname) to load the main class (or instance) or only the classes (and instances) you want gotos in.

Debuggers precisely follow the flow of all jumps and labels making flow analysis convenient and easy.

You are done!

For-loop and do-while loop behavior

When jumping in and out of loops, the last known state of the loop-initialized variables is retained. You are free to leave and re-renter other language structures at-will.

Feature – Unreachable Assertion

If a label appears in a region of_unreachable code, simply insert ‘unreachable()’ or ‘unreachable(reason)’ to assert that a code region should not be crossed (although it can be jumped across using the goto):

Feature – Multiple Return Points

If a label appears in a region of code after a return, the previous return will not allow the compiler to process the code as the next block of code will be_unreachable. To workaround this, use the semantic ‘ if( yes() ) return’

The yes() method is a protected final method of the Goto class and will efficiently compute the boolean return value at runtime. This allows for multiple labels whose scope would normally prevent the placement of returns after them:

Feature - Jumping Into and Out of Try-Finally blocks

Note that the code in finally will not be executed unless the block is normally exited - in this case AFTER "Label 1" has run and the block is re-enterred.

Fail-Safe features of Goto.class

All classes extending Goto will fail on instantiation in the event that they were not loaded through the GotoLoader.

Debugging On/Off Setting

The debugging mode can be turned on and off for any instance using setGotoDebug(true). The debugging output clearly identifies the jumps and labels by class, object hashcode, and program flow:

• Load the project main class, or a root class that all ther classes with Gotos share a classloader with, via GotoLoader.load(class) or GotoLoader.newInstance(class).

I suggest Runnable, Callable or the ProgramStarter interface provide in the library. All other child classes referenced used in the transformed main class can be use as is:

Gotos and Labels work in instance methods. Your goto enabled classes can have static methods, just none that have goto’s or labels in them.

A goto cannot direct flow out of a block synchronized using java’s ‘synchronized’ keyword. The example below will result in an IllegalMonitorState exception. The solution is to use Java locks instead of ‘synchronized’.

• A goto may be used to direct flow out of a ‘try-finally’ block. In this instance, the code in ‘finally’ will be skipped. However, all code normally exiting the ‘try’ will have it’s ‘finally’ clause run. This example will not invoke the code in a finally clause:
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Does Java Support Goto?

Java is known for its consistency and versatility. Java offers several control stream chief methodologies. Java's etymological construction lacks control stream elucidation, as shown by the "goto" statement. In this part, we'll look at why Java doesn't have a goto function, some of its options, and how to use them to achieve similar goals.

First, let's examine Java's language structure. The goto explanation enables you freely swap code parts based on a name. Goto generates complex control streams in C and C++, but the code is frequently unreadable and worthless.

Explanation of Syntax

Java's authors omitted goto articulation because it would confuse code and make it hard to understand. They favored structured control streams for clearer code and fewer errors.

step-by-step algorithm used in Java to manage control flow −

Entry Point − The execution of the program will begin at the entry point that has been chosen, which could be the main method or another entry point.

Execution in Sequence − The code is run in a way that is consecutive, line by line, except if control stream explanations are experienced, in which case execution leaps to the following assertion in the program.

Statements That Create Loops Looping statements, which include the for, while, and do-while statements, allow a block of code to be repeated until a certain condition is satisfied.

Even since Java doesn't have goto, developers have found ways to structure similar functionality.

Approach 1: Labeling and Conditional Statements

Explanation.

Labels can mark code sections, and conditional expressions can control execution based on conditions. Goto lacks control and readability.

To demonstrate execution, we inserted System.out.println() statements to each code section. This lets you track execution and see what's running dependent on circumstances.The control center displays code execution messages.

Approach 2 Encapsulating with Methods

Structure Java control flow by encapsulating code in methods. By breaking the software into manageable pieces, method invocations let us browse it.

I added section3(), section4(), section5(), section6(), and section7() methods. Condition, anotherCondition, yetAnotherCondition, and finalCondition were substituted by their procedures. These methods work for you.

Approach 3 State Machines

State machines manage complex control flow. State machines represent transitions mathematically. State machines organize control flow.

We added condition reasoning to condition()'s technique specification. If possible, change condition()'s strategy group.

Approach 4 Exception Handling

Exception Handling in Java or Java Exceptions with checked, unchecked and errors with example and usage of try, catch, throw, throws and finally keywords.

Approach 4 copies the goto proclamation to handle exceptional cases. To "hop" to code, we issue GotoException. try to control execution using the GotoException.

Java's ordered control stream approaches work even without goto articulation. Markings, limited articulations, state machines, and the ordered programming paradigm help engineers write error-free, efficient code. To create trustworthy, easy-to-understand Java programs, you must be open to these possibilities and follow best practices.

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Is using goto ever worthwhile?

goto is almost universally discouraged. Is using this statement ever worthwhile?

• programming-practices

• 18 xkcd.com/292 –  TheLQ Commented Sep 2, 2010 at 23:25
• 1 goto is what the cpu ultimately do, but it does not work well with what humans need to comprehend and abstract due to there is no mark on the target end. Compare to Intercal COMEFROM . –  user1249 Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 9:57
• 2 @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen, what else humans mean when they're talking about state transitions in a state machine? Can't you see a similarity? "Go to a given state ", that's what it means and anything else would be nothing but an unnecessary complication of such a trivial thing. And what do you mean by "no mark"? Label is such a mark. –  SK-logic Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 10:10
• @SK-logic, depends on how far away you will allow goto's to come from. State machines do not require goto to implement. –  user1249 Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 10:26
• @ThorbjørnRavnAndersen, of course goto is not required. It is just the most rational way of implementing them in the imperative languages, since it is the closest thing to the very semantics of the state transition. And its destination can be quite far from the source, it won't hinder the readability. My favourite example of such a code is D.E. Knuth's implementation of the Adventure game. –  SK-logic Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 10:30

14 Answers 14

This has been discussed several times on Stack Overflow, and Chris Gillum summarized the possible uses of goto :

Cleanly exiting a function Often in a function, you may allocate resources and need to exit in multiple places. Programmers can simplify their code by putting the resource cleanup code at the end of the function all all "exit points" of the function would goto the cleanup label. This way, you don't have to write cleanup code at every "exit point" of the function. Exiting nested loops If you're in a nested loop and need to break out of all loops, a goto can make this much cleaner and simpler than break statements and if-checks. Low-level performance improvements This is only valid in perf-critical code, but goto statements execute very quickly and can give you a boost when moving through a function. This is a double-edged sword, however, because a compiler typically cannot optimize code that contains gotos.

I'd argue, as many others would argue, that in all of these cases, the usage of goto is used as a means to get out of a corner one coded oneself into, and is generally a symptom of code that could be refactored.

• 36 The first problem is solved very neatly by finally blocks in modern languages, and the second is solved by labelled break s. If you're stuck with C however, goto is pretty much the only way of solving these problems elegantly. –  Chinmay Kanchi Commented Sep 2, 2010 at 22:03
• 7 @Chinmay - finally blocks only apply to 1) modern languages that have them and b) you can tolerate the overhead (exception handling does have an overhead.) That is, using finally is only valid under those conditions. There are very rare, yet valid situations where a goto is the way to go. –  luis.espinal Commented Nov 8, 2010 at 17:54
• 26 Okay people... what the heck is the difference between break 3 or break myLabel and goto myLabel . Oh that's right just the keyword. If you are using break , continue or some similar keyword you are infact using a goto (If you are using for, while, foreach, do/loop you are using a conditional goto.) –  Matthew Whited Commented Jan 3, 2011 at 3:20
• 3 @Matthew: A labelled break only allows you to jump to the statement immediately following the labelled loop , not any arbitrary point in code. Yes, it is only syntactic sugar for a goto , but it makes it immeasurably safer to use. –  Chinmay Kanchi Commented Feb 4, 2011 at 1:48
• 5 About low level performance - the behaviour of modern processor might be hard to predict (pipeline, out-of-order execution) so probably in 99% of cases it is not worth it or even it might be slower. @MatthewWhited: Scoping. If you enter scope at arbitrary point it is not clear (to human) what constructors should be called (the problem exists in C as well). –  Maja Piechotka Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 12:01

Higher-level control flow constructs tend to correspond to concepts in the problem domain. An if/else is a decision based on some condition. A loop says to perform some action repeatedly. Even a break statement says "we were doing this repeatedly, but now we need to stop".

A goto statement, on the other hand, tends to correspond to a concept in the running program, not in the problem domain. It says to continue execution at a specified point in the program . Someone reading the code has to infer what that means with respect to the problem domain.

Of course all the higher-level constructs can be defined in terms of gotos and simple conditional branches. That doesn't mean that they're merely gotos in disguise. Think of them as restricted gotos -- and it's the restrictions that make them useful. A break statement is implemented as a jump to the end of the enclosing loop, but it's better thought of as operating on the loop as a whole.

All else being equal, code whose structure reflects that of the problem domain tends to be easier to read and maintain.

There are no cases where a goto statement is absolutely required (there's a theorem to that effect), but there are cases where it can be the least bad solution. Those cases vary from language to language, depending on what higher-level constructs the language supports.

In C, for example, I believe there are three basic scenarios where a goto is appropriate.

• Breaking out of a nested loop. This would be unnecessary if the language had a labeled break statement.
• Bailing out of a stretch of code (typically a function body) in case of an error or other unexpected event. This would be unnecessary if the language had exceptions.
• Implementing an explicit finite state machine. In this case (and, I think, only in this case) a goto corresponds directly to a concept in the problem domain, transitioning from one state to a specified other state, where the current state is represented by which block of code is currently executing.

On the other hand, an explicit finite state machine can also be implemented with a switch statement inside a loop. This has the advantage that every state starts at the same place in the code, which can be useful for debugging, for example.

The main use of a goto in a reasonably modern language (one that supports if/else and loops) is to simulate a control flow construct that's missing from the language.

The most of the discouragement comes form a sort of "religion" that has been created aroud God Djikstra that was compelling in the early '60s about it's indiscriminate power to:

• function not executed from the begining
• loops not executed from the beginning
• skipped variable initialization
• jump away from whatever block of code without any possible cleanup.

This has nothing more to do with the goto statement of the modern languages, whose existence is merely due to support the creation of code structures other than the language provided ones.

In particular the first main point above is anymore permitted and the second is cleaned (if you goto out of a block the stack is unwinded properly and all proper destructors called)

You can refer this answer to have an idea of how even code not using goto can be unreadable. The problem is not goto itself, but the bad use of it.

I can write an entire program without using if , just for . Of course, it will not be well readable, an look clumsy and unnecessarily complicated.

But the problem is not for . It's me.

Things like break , continue , throw , bool needed=true; while(needed) {...} , etc. are noting more than masquerade goto to escape away from the scimitars of the Djikstrarian zealots, that -50 years after the invention of modern laguages- still want their prisoners. They forgot what Djikstra was talking about, they only remember the title of his note (GOTO considered harmful, and it was not even his onw title: it was changed by the editor) and blame and bash, bash and blame every contruct having those 4 letter placed in sequence.

It's 2011: it's time to understand that goto has noting to deal with the GOTO statement Djikstra was compelling about.

• 4 "Things like break, continue, throw, bool needed=true; while(needed) {...}, etc. are noting more than masquerade goto" I don't agree with that. I would prefer "things like break etc are restricted goto", or something like that. The main problem with goto is that it is usually too powerful. To the extent that the current goto is less powerful than Dijkstra's, your answer is fine with me. –  Muhammad Alkarouri Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 12:20
• 3 @MuhammadAlkarouri: I totally agree. You just found a better wording to express exactly my concept. My point is that those restriction can sometimes not be applicable and the kind of restriction you need is not in the language. Then a more "powerful" thing, less specialized, is what makes you able to workaround. For example, the Java break n is not available in C++, hence goto escape , even if escape is not required to be just out from the n-ple loop. –  Emilio Garavaglia Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 12:37

Surely it depends on the programming language. The main reason goto has been controversial is because of its ill effects that arise when the compiler lets you use it too liberally. Problems can arise, for example, if it lets you use goto in such a way that you can now access an uninitialised variable, or worse, to jump into another method and mess with the call stack. It should be the responsibility of the compiler to disallow nonsensical control flow.

Java has attempted to “solve” this problem by disallowing goto entirely. However, Java lets you use return inside a finally block and thus cause an exception to be inadvertantly swallowed. The same problem is still there: the compiler is not doing its job. Removing goto from the language hasn’t fixed it.

In C#, goto is as safe as break , continue , try/catch/finally and return . It doesn’t let you use uninitialised variables, it doesn’t let you jump out of a finally block, etc. The compiler will complain. This is because it solves the real problem, which is like I said nonsensical control flow. goto doesn’t magically cancel definite-assignment analysis and other reasonable compiler checks.

• Your point is that C#'s goto is not evil? If so, that is the case for every routinely used modern language with a goto construct, not only C#... –  lvella Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 17:42

Yes. When your loops are nested several levels deep, goto is the only way of elegantly breaking out of an inner loop. The other option is to set a flag and break out of each loop if that flag satisfies a condition. This is really ugly, and pretty error-prone. In these cases, goto is simply better.

Of course, Java's labelled break statement does the same thing, but without allowing you to jump to an arbitrary point in the code, which solves the problem neatly without allowing the things that make goto evil.

• 6 goto is never an elegant answer. When your loops are nested several levels deep, your problem is that you failed to architect your code to avoid the multinested loops. Procedure calls are NOT the enemy. (Read the "Lambda: The Ultimate ..." papers.) Using a goto to break out of loops nested several levels deep is putting a band-aid on an open multiple fracture: it may be simple but it isn't the right answer. –  John R. Strohm Commented Dec 18, 2011 at 15:03
• 10 And of course, there is never the odd case when deeply nested loops are called for? Being a good programmer isn't just about following the rules, but also about knowing when to break them. –  Chinmay Kanchi Commented Dec 27, 2011 at 13:53
• 5 @JohnR.Strohm Never say never. If you use terms like "never" in programming , you've clearly not dealt with corner cases, optimization, resource contraints, etc. In deeply nested loops, goto is very much indeed the most cleanest, elegant way to exit the loops. Doesn't matter how much you've refactored your code. –  Sujay Phadke Commented Feb 6, 2016 at 21:34
• 1 @JohnR.Strohm: Second most missed feature on switching from VB.NET to C#: the Do loop. Why? Because I can change the one loop that needs a deep break into a Do loop and type Exit Do and there's no GoTo . Nested loops happen all the time. Breaking the stacks happens some % of the time. –  Joshua Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 4:17
• 2 @JohnR.Strohm The only reason why you say "goto is never an elegant answer" is because you made your mind up that goto is never an elegant answer, and therefore any solution using goto cannot be an elegant answer. –  gnasher729 Commented May 19, 2020 at 21:58

The odd goto here or there, so long as it's local to a function, rarely significantly harms readability. It often benefits it by drawing attention to the fact that there's something unusual going on in this code that requires the use of a somewhat uncommon control structure.

If (local) gotos are significantly harming readability, then it's usually a sign that the function containing the goto has become too complex.

The last goto I put into a piece of C code was to build a pair of interlocking loops. It doesn't fit into the normal definition of "acceptable" goto use, but the function ended up significantly smaller and clearer as a result. To avoid the goto would have required a particularly messy violation of DRY.

• 1 The answer to this is most pithily stated in the old "Lay's Potato Chips" slogan: "Bet you can't eat just one". In your example, you have two "interlocking" (whatever that means, and I'm betting it isn't pretty) loops, and the goto gave you a cheap out. What about the maintenance guy, who has to modify that code after you got hit by a bus? Is the goto going to make his life easier or harder? Do those two loops need rethinking? –  John R. Strohm Commented Dec 18, 2011 at 15:09

I think this whole issue has been a case of barking up the wrong tree.

GOTO as such doesn't seem problematic to me, but rather it's very often a symptom of an actual sin: spaghetti code.

If the GOTO causes major crossing of flow control lines then it's bad, period. If it crosses no flow control lines it's harmless. In the grey zone in between we have things like loop bailouts, there are still some languages that haven't added constructs that cover all the legit grey cases.

The only case I've found myself actually using it in many years is the case of the loop where the decision point is in the middle of the loop. You're left with either duplicated code, a flag or a GOTO. I find the GOTO solution the best of the three. There is no crossing of flow control lines here, it's harmless.

• The case you allude to is sometimes dubbed “loop and a half” or “N plus one half loop” and it’ a famous use-case for goto s that jump into a loop (if the language allows this; since the other case, jumping out of the loop in the middle, is usually trivial without goto ). –  Konrad Rudolph Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 16:48
• (Alas, most languages forbid jumping into a loop.) –  Konrad Rudolph Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 16:56
• @KonradRudolph: If you implement the "loop" with GOTO there is no other loop structure to be jumping into. –  Loren Pechtel Commented Feb 7, 2012 at 19:34
• 2 I think of goto as shouting THE CONTROL FLOW HERE DOESN'T FIT NORMAL STRUCTURED-PROGRAMMING PATTERNS . Because control flows which fit structured programming patterns are easier to reason about than those which don't, one should attempt to use such patterns when possible; if code does fit such patterns, one shouldn't shout that it doesn't. On the other hand, in cases where code really doesn't fit such patterns, shouting about it may be better than pretending the code fits when it really doesn't. –  supercat Commented Mar 27, 2014 at 17:23
• 1 @supercat Well, imagine you wrote yourself a schedule, and then the wind blows it out of your hands. According to your logic, you shouldn't retrieve it, because chasing after your schedule wasn't on your schedule. –  Sapphire_Brick Commented May 19, 2020 at 20:53

Yes, the goto can be used to benefit the experience of the developer: http://adamjonrichardson.com/2012/02/06/long-live-the-goto-statement/

However, just as with any powerful tool (pointers, multiple inheritance, etc.), one has to be disciplined using it. The example provided in the link uses PHP, which restricts the usage of the goto construct to the same function/method and disables the ability to jump into a new control block (e.g., loop, switch statement, etc.)

Depends on the language. It's still widely used in Cobol programming, for example. I've also worked on a Barionet 50 device, whose firmware programming language is an early BASIC dialect that of course requires you to use Goto.

It has been mentioned that it's good for exiting nested loops and for cleanups. But I have a case which doesn't fit (at least not perfectly) in any of those cases, even though it's inspired by both. And it also involves the philosophy of single return.

In this case, you could use a break in the loop instead. But why? The goto gives more information. A if(condition) break says that we should exit the loop. A if(condition) goto END instead says that we should go to the end of the function and do the remaining part. To me it's clearer.

• I don't see that the goto "gives more information" in these cases. The first jump can be incorporated into an if-block, and the second jump can be converted into a break (if not elided completely by moving the break condition into the while-block condition). And although the label makes the jump target unambiguous, structured blocks are similarly unambiguous. Anyway the risks with gotos do not emerge in such simple examples as these, but only when they form a weave (and thus the order of operations, and the number of paths, becomes increasingly difficult to see). –  Steve Commented Jul 7, 2021 at 6:33
• @Steve I do not condone weaves of goto. That's where the problem arises. –  klutt Commented Jul 7, 2021 at 7:12
• What's still not clear is why you would use goto at all, when the simple cases (like yours) are so easily replaced by purely structured blocks? The diktat against gotos, after all, is because they violate the regularity of structured blocks. Neither of your blocks, once entered, actually exit in accordance with the block principle (that is, the execution of a given block is followed by the execution of the first line after the given block). –  Steve Commented Jul 7, 2021 at 9:23
• And it also involves the philosophy of single return That's the real problem: force-fitting a square algorithm that is simply implemented with multiple return statements into the round hole of "every function may have only one return". "Must cram all algorithms into this one pattern"? Even if they don't fit? You have to make the code more complex just to force-fit it into a rule that's supposedly for making code easier to understand and more maintainable? –  Andrew Henle Commented Jul 7, 2021 at 10:50
• @AndrewHenle In this case, it's because I want to run the print statement upon exiting. –  klutt Commented Jul 7, 2021 at 10:55

goto may be useful when porting legacy assembler code to C. In the first instance, an instruction-by-instruction conversion to C, using goto as a replacement for the assembler's branch instruction, can enable very rapid porting.

• Correct, but one of the arguments against goto s is that they thwart compiler optimizations. –  Sapphire_Brick Commented May 19, 2020 at 20:46
• @Sapphire_Brick: Many compiler optimizations are designed around certain execution patterns. If the task to be performed doesn't fit the supported execution patterns, "thwarting" optimizations may not be a bad thing. –  supercat Commented May 19, 2020 at 22:48

As an example how moaning about goto can be pointless: I had some lengthy code that asked for gotos in many places jumping past the end of that chunk of code. Unfortunately this was C++. And C++ doesn’t let you goto past any variable initialisation.

Do - while came to the rescue:

Completely equivalent to using gotos instead of break statements.

• You can skip variable initialization in C++; you just have to skip the entire scope containing that variable. The goto-equivalent could work if you put the code in question in a block. –  Nicol Bolas Commented Jul 8, 2021 at 23:07
• It would seem that what is really missing from structured languages, is the existence of a block (with a specific keyword) whose only purpose for being declared is to allow a jump to its exit point. –  Steve Commented Jul 9, 2021 at 10:26

I would argue no. They should always be replaced with a tool more specific to the problem the goto is being used to solve (unless it's not available in your language). For example, break statements and exceptions solve to previously goto-solved problems of loop escaping and error handling.

• I'd argue that when languages have both these features, goto is typically absent from those languages. –  Chinmay Kanchi Commented Sep 2, 2010 at 22:45
• But is that because they don't need them, or because people think they don't need them? –  Michael K Commented Nov 4, 2010 at 12:46
• Your views are bigoted. There are many cases when goto is the closest thing to the very problem domain semantics, anything else would be a dirty hack. –  SK-logic Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 8:56
• 1 @SK-logic: I don't think the word "bigoted" means what you think it means. –  Keith Thompson Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 9:51
• 1 @Keith, "intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices" - that's what I consistently observe here, with this goto-bashing blindfolded lot. "Should always be replaced" are fanatic's words, at least. Nothing close to a proper, sound opinion, but just a pure bigotry. This "always" does not leave any space for any alternative opinion, see? –  SK-logic Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 10:06

I would say no. If you find the need for using GOTO, I'll bet that there's a need to redesign the code.

• 4 Maybe, but you haven't provided any reasoning –  Casebash Commented Sep 2, 2010 at 23:09
• Dijkstra provided the reasoning, in detail, decades ago. –  John R. Strohm Commented Dec 18, 2011 at 15:04
• 4 Just Dogma. No resons. Note: Djikstra is NOT ANYMORE A VALID RESON: it was referring of the BASIC or FORTRAN GOTO statement ofn the early '60s. They have nothing to do with the really anemic (compared to the power of those) gots-s of today. –  Emilio Garavaglia Commented Feb 6, 2012 at 8:54
• @EmilioGaravaglia Well, the part of his reasoning that still applies today is that it's very easy to write spaghetti code by using way to many gotos. However, by that logic, we shouldn't use pointers because using as many pointers as number of gotos needed to create problems would create similar chaos. –  Sapphire_Brick Commented May 19, 2020 at 20:42

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Is there a goto statement in Java?

No, Java does not have a goto statement. The goto statement is a control flow statement that is used to transfer the control of a program to a specific line of code within the same function. It is often used to create a loop or to jump out of a loop.

In Java, the break and continue statements are used to control the flow of a loop, and the return statement is used to exit a method. The throw and throws statements are used to throw and handle exceptions.

Here is an example of using break and continue to control the flow of a loop in Java:

The break statement is used to exit the loop, and the continue statement is used to skip the rest of the current iteration and move on to the next one.

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How to use goto statement in java?

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Your Email   Password   Your Email   ? Optional Password   Read the question carefully. Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar. If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome. This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL) Top Experts Last 24hrs This month 20 10 10 10 10 40 30 20 20 20 Java Code Gists Why Goto Was Removed for Clean Code Reasons for discouraging goto in clean code. The goto statement, once a staple in early programming languages, has been largely removed or discouraged in modern programming practices, especially in the context of writing clean code. The reasons for moving away from goto revolve around its impact on code readability, maintainability, and structure. Share this: Further reading, leave a reply cancel reply. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed . How Coffee Helped the Union Caffeinate Their Way to Victory in the Civil War The North’s fruitful partnership with Liberian farmers fueled a steady supply of an essential beverage Bronwen Everill Ten months into the Civil War, the Union was short on a crucial supply, the absence of which threatened to sap the fighting strength of the Northern army: coffee. This critical source of energy and morale was considered almost as vital as gunpowder; Union General Benjamin Butler ordered his soldiers to carry coffee with them always, saying it guaranteed success: “If your men get their coffee early in the morning, you can hold” your position. But by 1862, imports of coffee were down by 40 percent since the start of the war. Though coffee was cultivated around the world from Java to Ethiopia to Haiti, Brazil had been the main supplier to the United States. The Union blockade of Southern ports, including New Orleans, had slowed coffee imports from Brazil to a trickle—and Union merchants and military contractors were able to reroute only a portion of that Brazilian coffee northward; even with Union port cities trying to pick up the slack, the U.S. imported 50 percent less by value from Brazil in 1863 than it did in 1860. Demand, meanwhile, had quadrupled since the fighting began, fueled by a commitment to provide each Union soldier with a generous 36 pounds of coffee per year. Finding a new source of coffee had become a matter of survival. Luckily for the Union, Stephen Allen Benson , president of the relatively young Republic of Liberia, had a plan. In February 1862, he sent a message to Americans in the North: “In Liberia there are about 500,000 coffee trees planted … [and] there is now more coffee exported from Liberia than in any previous period.” Born in Maryland to free Black American parents, Benson had emigrated with his family to the West African colony at the age of 6. By the outbreak of the Civil War, in April 1861, he was one of the largest coffee farmers in Liberia—and he hoped that this new country, to which several thousand Black Americans had fled to escape American racial animus, could provide an essential fuel in the Union’s own fight against slavery. A ship that left the port at Monrovia in August 1862 carried 6,000 pounds of premium African coffee. It was the first major shipment to the Union—and would prove vital in the North’s victory. Coffee replaced tea as the U.S. drink of choice around the time of the American Revolution. From the moment patriots tossed chests of tea into Boston Harbor in December 1773, drinking coffee—and boycotting tea—became a sure sign of loyalty to the cause of independence. Pretty soon, the country was obsessed: By the 1830s, coffee consumption was outstripping tea by five to one. In 1832, Andrew Jackson replaced army alcohol rations with coffee, in hopes of energizing the troops and reducing instances of drunken insubordination. By 1860, the U.S. was importing six pounds of the stuff each year for every man, woman and child in the country—and at the outbreak of the Civil War, Americans were drinking twice as much coffee as they were 30 years before. But the war introduced a problem for the Union’s coffee drinkers. The sudden demand for more coffee as a crucial army provision combined with the blockade of the Southern ports created a crisis. What the Union could import was hardly enough to keep its army supplied, let alone to caffeinate Northern civilians in the manner to which they’d become accustomed. Yet there was a promising workaround: An early alliance between Northern abolitionists and the Liberian people had begun to bring small quantities of Liberian coffee to the North before the war. In 1848, before his presidency, Benson had formed a partnership with the Quaker merchant and activist George W. Taylor, whose “Free Labor Warehouse” in Philadelphia exclusively sold goods, food and clothes made without enslaved labor. Benson shipped roughly 1,500 pounds of coffee to Taylor that first year, and their partnership continued fruitfully throughout the next decade as they supplied coffee drinkers who were looking for slavery-free alternatives. Just as some consumers today boycott brands that trouble them, buy fair trade products and otherwise vote with their wallets, some abolitionists used commerce to fight slavery. Liberian coffee was especially attractive to the American Free Produce movement, with its explicit mandate of using ethical commerce to undermine the global slave trade. Coffee had long been championed by Quakers and other Free Produce advocates like Taylor. It was a product that free laborers could grow and that consumers could support with their purchases, even if it cost a little more to pay the farmers. At the time, the United States had not yet officially recognized the Republic of Liberia, and no formal trade treaties existed between the two countries. Southern states had stood in the way of recognizing Liberia since its independence in 1847, arguing that it would be inappropriate for the U.S. to host a Black diplomatic representative in Washington. But secession created an opening, and right away, Benson began lobbying the U.S. government to extend “treaties of friendship and commerce” that would allow Liberian farmers to bring in coffee on equal terms with other coffee-producing countries. By the start of 1862, Benson was not alone in his conviction that the farmers of Liberia could bolster the Union war effort. Mercifully for Union generals, President Abraham Lincoln officially recognized the republic that year and raised the tariff on coffee imports to 4 cents a pound as a war-funding effort. That created an opening for imports of Liberia’s more expensive, but also more ethical, coffee—now not so different in price from more established coffees like those from Java. Taylor’s Philadelphia Free Produce store expanded its network in Liberia, bringing new coffee to market from Liberian farmers like Othello Richards and Thomas Moore. The Union also sent advisers to Liberia, including Edward Morris, a Philadelphia merchant, who visited in 1862 to give free lectures to farmers about best practices for planting coffee—and to ask farmers what support they needed to increase the scale of this new coffee economy. His success was conspicuous. One Liberian settler, William C. Burke, who had been manumitted to emigrate to Liberia by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, wrote to his American contacts that after Morris’ visit, “the attention of almost every [Liberian] farmer has been lately turned towards raising coffee” for the U.S. market.    Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $19.99 This article is a selection from the July/August 2024 issue of Smithsonian magazine Newspapers from Maine to Ohio to California reported encouragingly on the supplies of Liberian coffee. On the ground, meanwhile, the Union’s ability to purchase and distribute coffee from Liberia, alongside other sources, was helping the army’s morale. In December 1862, one soldier wrote that “what keeps me alive must be the coffee.” The North was gaining a powerful caffeinated edge over the Confederacy, where importers, stymied by the Union’s ongoing blockade, were having far less success. Indeed, by 1863, coffee had become ludicrously scarce throughout the Confederacy. A Vermont soldier, marching through Louisiana, noted: “The richest planters have had no tea or coffe [sic] for over a year—when any poor coffe has been brought here it sold for $8 a pound.” In contrast, a receipt issued by Taylor’s Free Produce shop in Philadelphia in 1863 shows that he charged just 40 cents per pound for his prime Liberian beans, described by one arbiter to be of “superior” quality compared with non-Liberian coffee; one longtime Philadelphia customer extolled Liberian coffee’s “strength, flavor and aroma.” Confederate soldiers, huddled over their campfires in the predawn light, had to make do with unpalatable coffee substitutes brewed from acorn grounds, sweet potatoes and other dubious ingredients. Military discipline was reportedly difficult to maintain in the Confederate Army, where, one Union soldier noted, “they get no tea or coffee but plenty of whiskey.” One desperate Confederate soldier wrote a hastily scrawled, undated note to Union troops across the line in Fredericksburg, Virginia: “I send you some tobacco and expect some coffee in return … yours, Rebel.” The lack of coffee was fast eroding Confederate morale. The Union Army acted decisively to press its caffeine advantage. At the end of August 1864, the Alexandria Gazette in Virginia lamented that the Union troops in Sherman’s siege of Atlanta had “destroyed 500 sacks of genuine Rio coffee” intended for Confederate consumption—about 55,000 pounds in all. At this point in the war, Union supplies of coffee, including those from Liberia, were so assured that Northern soldiers could even afford to destroy the Confederate stock rather than confiscate or consume it themselves. An article on the same front page of the Gazette noted that a ship had recently arrived in New York with “40,000 pounds of ‘Liberia-Mocha’ coffee.” Benson’s small individual contribution in 1864, around 220 pounds of coffee sold through Taylor’s Free Produce Warehouse that same year, would have been enough to supply six soldiers for the full final year of the war. At the Confederate surrender at Appomattox in April 1865, Michigan soldier William Smith noted that the Confederate soldiers present were licking their lips hopefully, with “a keen relish for a cup of Yankee coffee.” The end of the war and Benson’s much-mourned death in 1865—an Ohio newspaper noted his passing as a “great loss”—did not put a damper on Liberian coffee exports to the U.S., where, after the war, coffee from the republic was increasingly available far beyond Free Produce shops. For their part, Liberian farmers counted their trading partnership with the Union a success. The war had created a new and durable market for their coffee, thanks in part to cooperation with the Free Produce Movement. As more people tried Liberian coffee, they tended to become devoted to it. As one Yale University chemistry professor recorded at the time, “Its quality was so much superior to most coffee in common use in this country that I at once ordered a sample.” Coffea liberica , as it was officially dubbed in 1876, was not only delicious, but also resistant to diseases that affected other varieties, and it won Liberia plenty of new trading partners: By 1885, its annual exports to countries including Britain and Germany reached an impressive 800,000 pounds—and then, only seven years later, a whopping 1.8 million. The U.S. coffee market, in turn, was forever changed by the war. Indeed, Smithsonian curator of political history Jon Grinspan says that drinking coffee three times a day had hooked America’s soldiers, with the enlisted men “developing lifelong peacetime habits while camped at Shiloh or Petersburg.” By 1885, the U.S. was importing 11 pounds of coffee per person, per year—nearly double prewar levels. Some news reports from this period—written, perhaps, after a third or fourth cup of Liberian brew—sometimes described coffee as a universal remedy, even touting its alleged benefits as a disinfectant. And in 1880, after the end of Reconstruction, with many reformers turning their attention from racial justice to temperance, the Philadelphia Times expressed the hope that “coffee houses would yet win the victory over gin palaces.” With the help of the prolific Liberian coffee plant, nothing seemed out of reach. Coffee Talk Manic birds, excitable goats and other invigorating tales behind the birth of our java addiction By Sonja Anderson Get your goat According to legend, a ninth-century Ethiopian shepherd named Kaldi noticed his goats acting hyper after eating berries from a strange tree. He harvested some for himself and, upon consuming them, enjoyed a similarly energizing effect. Kaldi shared his zippy discovery with some nearby monks, who disapprovingly threw the berries into a fire—accidentally roasting their seeds, which we call beans. The fragrant beans were scooped from the coals, crushed, and soaked in water—creating the first cup of joe. Ethiopians took nourishment from the coffee shrub in various ways: brewing its leaves and berries into tea, grinding and mixing the seeds with animal fat, or simply chewing on them. Some say that enslaved Northeast Africans—captured and forced across the Red Sea during a 1,300-year period of slave trade that began in the seventh century—may have carried such sustaining snacks onto ships, accidentally transporting the crop to another region that calls itself the birthplace of coffee: Yemen. Early birds In a different account, a 13th-century Moroccan mystic named Sheikh al-Shadhili saw a flock of amped-up birds soaring overhead, chewing unfamiliar-looking berries as they flew. After munching on some of the morsels the birds had dropped, Shadhili felt strangely alert—and he formed a habit. Energy for days Yemen’s coffee origin story credits one of Shadhili’s disciples: Omar, a healing priest once exiled from the town of Mocha for moral transgressions. Stranded in the hills, nearly starving, Omar plucked some red berries from a shrub. Finding the raw fruits’ seeds inedibly bitter, he opted to cook them over a fire, which hardened them beyond edibility. To correct this mistake, Omar boiled the roasted seeds, watching while the water turned brown and sweetly fragrant. Omar drank the dark liquid and, it is said, enjoyed days of sustained energy. Get the latest History stories in your inbox? Click to visit our Privacy Statement . Bronwen Everill | READ MORE Bronwen Everill is a lecturer in history and fellow of Gonville & Caius College at the University of Cambridge. Most recently, she is the author of  Not Made by Slaves: Ethical Capitalism in the Age of Abolition . Stack Overflow for Teams Where developers & technologists share private knowledge with coworkers Advertising & Talent Reach devs & technologists worldwide about your product, service or employer brand OverflowAI GenAI features for Teams OverflowAPI Train & fine-tune LLMs Labs The future of collective knowledge sharing About the company Visit the blog Collectives™ on Stack Overflow Find centralized, trusted content and collaborate around the technologies you use most. Q&A for work Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Get early access and see previews of new features. How can i write this code without goto statements I have this psudeo code, it is just an idea for now. I am planning on writing it in c++, but i want to write it such that it doesn't use goto statements, i know i should use functions and all but how can i backtrack and jump to different states without goto statements? like maybe i want to go from idle straight to landed or from landed back to idle, how can this be done? Commands are sent to serial port, whenever i need to send them 3 The pseudocode is immediately broken, as I don't see a recovered state? –  sweenish Commented 1 hour ago 3 Look at implementing State Machine Logic –  itprorh66 Commented 1 hour ago To go from one of those labels to any of the others? Just use goto . To go from any one to idle? Use a while or do / while and use continue . –  CPlus Commented 1 hour ago 1 I'd suggest you to at least post C++ code with goto . It'll be easy for us to reason about it. –  A. K. Commented 59 mins ago 1 If you use an enum to name the states and a while loop with a switch inside you could do this: onlinegdb.com/ogZxta4sp –  Jerry Jeremiah Commented 16 mins ago Know someone who can answer? Share a link to this question via email , Twitter , or Facebook . Your answer. Reminder: Answers generated by artificial intelligence tools are not allowed on Stack Overflow. Learn more Sign up or log in Post as a guest. Required, but never shown By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy . Browse other questions tagged c++ or ask your own question . 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All sections & plugins gone after local reinstall - help! Can you help me to identify the aircraft in a 1920s photograph? Does the Grimme D3 correction improve band gaps of vdW heterostructures? How well does the following argument work as a counter towards unfalsifiable supernatural claims? Graphics tablet pressure not working in blender (Blender 4.0 / XP-Pen Deco01V2 / MacBook M1 Pro 2021) Book in 90's (?) about rewriting your own genetic code Don't make noise. OR Don't make a noise Conflict between `\setmainfont` and `\mainmatter` Con permiso to enter your own house? PCIe implementation Cliffhanger ending? Greek myth about an athlete who kills another man with a discus Wait a minute, this *is* 1 across! y / p does not paste all yanked lines PCB layout for 16 MHz crystal oscillator 498 COMMENTS java Java also does not use line numbers, which is a necessity for a GOTO function. Unlike C/C++, Java does not have goto statement, but java supports label. The only place where a label is useful in Java is right before nested loop statements. We can specify label name with break to break out a specific outer loop. syntax 4. -1: First of all, just because Java doesn't support "goto" flow control statement, doesn't mean that's the reason it has the "goto" keyword that doesn't do anything. Second, "goto" might be a poor variable name, but it can be an excellent method name, which we can't use because "goto" is a keyword. Does Java support goto? Java does not have a goto statement because it provides a way to branch in an arbitrary and unstructured manner. This usually makes goto-ridden code hard to understand and hard to maintain. It also prohibits certain compiler optimization. There are, however, a few places where the goto is a valuable and legitimate construct for flow control. Goto Statement in Programming Goto statement is a control flow statement present in certain programming languages like C and C++. It enables programmers to transfer program control to a labeled section of code within the same function or block. Despite its availability, its usage is often discouraged in modern programming practices due to its potential to complicate code structure and reduce readability. Java Java - goto keyword. Java does not support goto statement. It is kept as a reserved keyword for future. As an alternative, Java supports labels with break and continue statement. We can use label within loops as well as in block statements. Java Goto Java Keyword label With the Keyword Break; Java Keyword label With the Keyword continue; Unlike other programming languages, Java does not have goto.Instead, Java contains the keyword label.. The keyword label is to change a program's flow and jump to another section of the program based on the specified condition.. As we know, two basic keywords, break and continue, are used to change the ... Jump Statements in Java with Example: Break, Continue, Return The goto statement is not part of Java's syntax, but historically, it has been used in other programming languages. On the other hand, the break statement is a valid Java jump statement used to terminate the loop or switch statement prematurely. Q4. What is the purpose of jump statements? Goto Goto ( goto, GOTO, GO TO, GoTo, or other case combinations, depending on the programming language) is a statement found in many computer programming languages. It performs a one-way transfer of control to another line of code; in contrast a function call normally returns control. The jumped-to locations are usually identified using labels ... Does Java support goto? Unlike C/C++, Java does not have goto statement. This could be due to the reason that it makes difficult to trace the control flow of a program, making hard to understand and modify the program. Although, Java supports label statement which can be used to get the desired result. The label statement is used with break or continue statements. It ... Java's goto Java's goto. There is an old programmer joke that goes something like this: One programmer in anger says to the second programmer, "Go to Hell!" The second programmer replies in obvious repulsion ... Goto Statement In Java Goto Statement Goto Statement in Java isn't supported by Java. It is reserved as a keyword in the Java Virtual Machine,In case if they want to add it in a later version. Instead of Goto function, Java uses Label. Labels are used to change the flow of the program and jump to a specific instruction or label based on a condition. Use break as a Form of goto Java does not have a goto statement, because it provides an unstructured way to alter the flow of program execution. Programs that make extensive use of the goto are usually hard to understand and hard to maintain. There are, however, a few places where the goto is a useful and legitimate device. For example, the goto can be helpful when ... GitHub Make sure your class extends the Goto interface. Use _goto(n) instead of goto and _label(n) as the target. Labels and jumps must have set integer values, such as: _label(12), _goto(12), etc. Computed gotos use _multiGoto(n,10,20,30 …), where n is the index of label and where n is a value you change at runtime.. Use GotoLoader.newInstance(class) or GotoLoader.load(classname) to load the main ... Does Java Support Goto? Java is known for its consistency and versatility. Java offers several control stream chief methodologies. Java's etymological construction lacks control stream elucidation, as shown by the "goto" statement. In this part, we'll look at why Java doesn't have a goto function, some of its options, and how to use them to achieve similar goals. programming practices This has nothing more to do with the goto statement of the modern languages, ... Java has attempted to "solve" this problem by disallowing goto entirely. However, Java lets you use return inside a finally block and thus cause an exception to be inadvertantly swallowed. The same problem is still there: the compiler is not doing its job. Is there a goto statement in Java? No, Java does not have a goto statement. The goto statement is a control flow statement that is used to transfer the control of a program to a specific line of code within the same function. It is often used to create a loop or to jump out of a loop. In Java, the break and continue statements are used to control the flow of a loop, and the ... Goto statements in Java There is no goto in Java as of yet. It's a reserved word, in case there ends up being the need for it, but as far as I know, they haven't used it yet. Probable equivalent code: case 2: float sub1 = 0.0; do {. System.out.println("Enter the marks (in 100):"); System.out.println("Subject 1:"); [Solved] How to use goto statement in java? No, you don't need it. If you feel you need it, please try to train yourself to improve your code-writing skills just a bit more. Java lacks "goto" statement: Why Goto Was Removed for Clean Code The goto statement, once a staple in early programming languages, has been largely removed or discouraged in modern programming practices, especially in the context of writing clean code. The reasons for moving away from goto revolve around its impact on code readability, maintainability, and structure. Reduced Readability: goto statements can ... How Coffee Helped the Union Caffeinate Their Way to Victory in the Ten months into the Civil War, the Union was short on a crucial supply, the absence of which threatened to sap the fighting strength of the Northern army: coffee. Java label statement and goto goto keyword in java. There is no goto in java, right ? Why goto is still considered a keyword then ? Label syntax (only properly* used before a loop/if statement ?? ) and called through (label, break label, continue label) *properly cause when i used before x=3 it couldn't be read after it are there any other cases ? Alternative to goto statement in Java The closest thing Java has to a goto are labels for break and continue. Goto has been considered harmful for longer than Java has been a language, and consequently Java doesn't have a goto implementation (and goto is a reserved word so you cannot add one). Finally, since token is a char you should compare with char literals like How can i write this code without goto statements Initialize sensors Idle: if eeprom flag is true go to recovered state wait for on command launch_wait: if reset command set eeprom to false goto idle wait for calibration command send telemetry Launch: if reset command set eeprom to false goto idle send telemetry Descend: if reset command set eeprom to false goto idle release heat shield ... phd analysis phd audit phd writing thesis template thesis writing