Re: speaking of control structures...

On 5/5/09 8:55 PM, "Clancy" <clancy_1@cybec.com.au> wrote: > On Tue, 05 May 2009 14:13:23 -0400, robert@interjinn.com (Robert Cummings) > wrote: > >> On Tue, 2009-05-05 at 13:56 -0400, Tom Worster wrote: >>> there's a control structure i wish php had: a simple block that you can >>> ........... > >> But PHP 5.3 introduces goto: >> >> <?php >> >> header: >> >> if( $something ) ... >> >> goto body; >> >> body: >> >> if( $soemthingElse ) ... >> goto footer; >> >> if( $seomthingerElse ) ... >> >> goto footer; >> >> footer: >> >> // blah blah blah >> goto done; >> >> done; > > I heartily agree. In my opinion 'break' is like a 'goto' without a label. > As I > used to > tell my students "if I say 'break' the one thing I can be sure of is that you > will all > disappear. I had no idea where most of you go, or what you do, and I'm not > even sure if > I'll ever see some of you again." > > 'Goto' makes it possible to set up the more complex control sequences you > sometimes need, > yet have them clearly defined. For example: > > <?php > > begin: ....... > if ( ... ) { goto error; } > ....... > if ( .... ) { goto footer; } > ....... > goto body; > > repeat: .... > if ( .... ) { goto footer; } > ....... > if ( ... ) { goto error; } > > body: ......... > if ($error) { goto error; } > ........ > if (!$error) { goto footer; } > error: ........ > > footer: ........ > if ( .... ) { goto repeat; } > ?> > > I find it very difficult to set up sequences like this using if/else if (or > switches, but > I don't like them anyway), and have to resort to setting flags and very > careful > indentation to make sure that I'm doing what I intended. Unfortunately my > provider is > still using PHP 4.something, and I have been too busy to switch to someone > more > up-to-date. clancy, i can't argue with you. my desired usage of break is really just a cover-up for a goto. i know. it makes no logical sense but i think i'd sooner adopt oop than gotos. my mom taught me to program back in the late 70s and early 80s. she was an old hand. when FORTRAN 4 came out she thought it was the bees knees. when Z80 micros with MS-BASIC came out, she thought they were cute. when turbo pascal came out on CP/M, she was impressed and taught me to quit using gotos. so while it makes no logical sense, perhaps you can see that it makes emotional sense.