goto's underrated

nourdude — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 19:45:27 +0000

goto is absolutely underrated.

it isn't inherently bad. like any control-flow tool, it depends on how exactly you'd use it.

proper usage:

gotoif (error!=0) {do_cleanup}

// complete_operation

label do_cleanup
  sys.unlock_file(descriptor)
  sys.free(buffer)
  return

this is pretty simple: if something goes wrong, go clean up.

messed-up usage:

@label b
goto a
@label c
goto b
@label a
goto c
// a forever do-nothing loop

this is technically valid, but... it's confusing and is absolutely useless.
like- BRO I NEED A GRAPH TO SEE THAT THIS THING IS A LITERAL INFINITE JUMP LOOP!

what i'm saying isn't "always use goto." nor is it "never use goto."

it's that goto itself isn't the problem. bad control flow is.

and when you call it a problem because dijkstra said it? without any defensible argument? dogma.

for example, i could frame while as bad:

while (x) {
 while (y) {
  do z
  while (a) {
  }
  do f
 }
 eat orange
}

or if, or for, or whatever i want to.
it's not the tool. it's the usage.

Classic...

nourdude — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:18:48 +0000

classic rite of passage lol

DEV Community: nourdude

goto's underrated

Classic...