goto Statement in C with Example

Flow Control
If-else Statement in C
Programs on if-else
Switch Case in C
Switch case Programs
Conditional Operator
While loop in C
Do-while loop in C
While vs do-while
For loop in C
Break keyword in C
Continue keyword in C
Break vs Exit in C
Goto keyword in C
☕️ Flow Control Programs
Largest in 3 Numbers
Find Grade of student
Find the absolute value
Vowel or Consonant
Leap Year Program
Simple calculator in C
Check Odd or Even 
Roots of Quadratic Equation
Find Reverse of Number
Factors of a number in C
Generate Multiplication table
Find Power of a Number
Find GCD and LCM
Find factorial of Number
Count Number of Digits
Sum of digits in Number
Sum of N Natural Numbers
Sum of Squares of Natural No.
Find Sum of Odd Numbers
Find the Sum of Series
Find Fibonacci series in C
Sum of the Fibonacci series
Sum until enters +ve numbers
Sum of max 10 no. & Skip -ve
☕️ C Conversion Programs
Celsius to Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit to Celsius
Decimal ↔ Binary
Decimal ↔ Octal
Octal ↔ Binary in C
☕️ Number Programs in C
Prime Number in C
Strong Number in C
Krishnamurthy Number
Neon Number in C
Palindrome number
Perfect Number in C
Armstrong Number
☕️ Pattern Programs in C
Pattern programs in C
Printing pattern using loops
Floyd’s triangle Program
Pascal Triangle Program
Pyramid Star Pattern in C
Diamond Pattern Programs
Half Diamond pattern in C
Print Diamond Pattern
Hollow Diamond Pattern
Diamond Pattern of Numbers

In this tutorial, you will learn the C goto statement with examples. What is the syntax to use the goto statement and how to use it in our program?

The goto statement is another type of control statement supported by C. The control is unconditionally transferred to the statement associated with the label specified in the goto statement.

goto syntax in C

Syntax:- goto label_name;

A statement label is defined in exactly the same way as a variable name, which is a sequence of letters and digits, the first of which must be a letter. The statement liable must be followed by a colon (:). Like other statements, the goto statement ends with a semicolon.

The goto is an unconditional branching statement and its use is discouraged in structured programming. In a language that provides the various loop statements like ‘for’, ‘while’, and ‘do-while’ as well as the switch statement, there is normally no need to use the ‘goto’ statement. Often, a break statement or a continue statement can eliminate the need for a goto statement.

Because the goto statement can interfere with the normal sequence of processing, it makes a program more difficult to read and maintain.

Examples of C goto

Program1:- Print first N natural numbers in C programming using the goto statement.

 #include<stdio.h>
 int main()
 {
   int n, i=1;

   printf("Enter a number: ");
   scanf("%d",&n);
   
   start:
   printf("%d\t",i);
   i++;
   if(i<n) goto start;
   
   return 0;
 }

Output:-

Enter a number: 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

In this program, the goto works similarly to do-while loop. Assume the label start as do, and goto start as while, and if(i<n) as the condition of the do-while loop. First, the statements are executed and then the condition is checked.

Program2:- Write a program to find the sum of positive numbers in C programming using goto statements. The program should take input repeatedly until the user enters a negative number.

 #include<stdio.h>
 int main()
 {
   int n, sum=0;
   
   start:
   printf("Enter a number: ");
   scanf("%d",&n);
   if(n<0) goto end;
   sum = sum + n;
   goto start;
   
   end:
   printf("Sum = %d",sum);
   return 0;
 }

Output:-

Enter a number: 10
Enter a number: 15
Enter a number: -5
Sum = 25

In this program, two goto statements are used. The first goto statement (goto end and label end) works as a break statement and the second goto statement (goto start and label start) works as a loop.

Use of goto statement

The goto statement is used:-

  1. To execute a group of statements repeatedly for a particular number of times.
  2. To come out of several nested loops at one stroke.

Program3:- Write a program to find factorial of a given number in C programming using the goto statement.

 #include<stdio.h>
 int main()
 {
   int num;
   long fact = 1;
   printf("Enter a number: ");
   scanf("%d",&num);
   
   if(num<0) goto end;
   for(int i=1; i<=num; i++)
   fact = fact * i;
   printf("Factorial of %d is = %ld", num, fact);
   end:
   
   return 0;
 }

Output:-

Enter a number: 5
Factorial of 5 is = 120

In the above program for calculating the factorial, we used a goto statement and for loop. We can do the same without using for loop also. The below program is without for loop.

 #include<stdio.h>
 int main()
 {
   int num;
   long fact = 1;
   printf("Enter a number: ");
   scanf("%d",&num);
   
   if(num<0) goto end;
   int i=1;
   loop:
   fact = fact * i;
   i++;
   if(i<=num) goto loop;
   printf("Factorial of %d is = %ld", num, fact);
   end:
   
   return 0;
 }

Output:-

Enter a number: 5
Factorial of 5 is = 120
Enter a number: 6
Factorial of 6 is = 720
Enter a number: 7
Factorial of 7 is = 5040

Note:- Generally, we don’t use the goto statement in C programming. It is recommended to use loops instead of using goto statement. Use goto statement, only if loops can’t do that operation.

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Flow Control
If-else Statement in C
Programs on if-else
Switch Case in C
Switch case Programs
Conditional Operator
While loop in C
Do-while loop in C
While vs do-while
For loop in C
Break keyword in C
Continue keyword in C
Break vs Exit in C
Goto keyword in C
☕️ Flow Control Programs
Largest among 3 Numbers
Find Grade of student
Find the absolute value
Check Vowel or Consonant
Leap Year Program
Simple calculator in C
Check Odd or Even 
Roots of Quadratic Equation
Find Reverse of Number
Factors of a number in C
Generate Multiplication table
Find Power of a Number
Find GCD and LCM
Find factorial of Number
Count Number of Digits
Sum of digits in Number
Sum of N Natural Numbers
Sum of Squares of Natural No.
Find Sum of Odd Numbers
Find the Sum of Series
Find Fibonacci series in C
Sum of the Fibonacci series
Sum until enters +ve numbers
Sum of max 10 no. & Skip -ve
☕️ C Conversion Programs
Celsius to Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit to Celsius
Decimal ↔ Binary
Decimal ↔ Octal
Octal ↔ Binary in C
☕️ Number Programs in C
Prime Number in C
Strong Number in C
Krishnamurthy Number
Neon Number in C
Palindrome number
Perfect Number in C
Armstrong Number
☕️ Pattern Programs in C
Pattern programs in C
Printing pattern using loops
Floyd’s triangle Program
Pascal Triangle Program
Pyramid Star Pattern in C
Diamond Pattern Programs
Half Diamond pattern in C
Print Diamond Pattern
Hollow Diamond Pattern
Diamond Pattern of Numbers

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