[net.lang] goto-s in programming-languages

tjr@ihnet.UUCP (Tom Roberts) (06/12/84)

Several articles have discussed the necessity of including goto-s
in (new) programming-languages. Others have said that you need them to:

	1) exit from deeply-nested structures (loops).
	2) handle error conditions efficiently.

I believe that a third reason overshadows these two: code generators.

I have written several pre-processors, for both FORTRAN and C, which
rely heavily upon using goto-s; avoiding goto-s would have enormously
complicated them. This is an appealing method for creating application-
specific languages quickly, and I think that a major component of the
"new wave" in computer programming will involve application-specific
languages. Leaving goto-s out of the underlying general-purpose language
would be a major mistake.

		Tom Roberts
		ihnp4!ihnet!tjr