I am solving problem 9 on the Project Euler. In my solution I use a "goto" statement to break out of two for loops. The Problem is the following:
A Pythagorean triplet is a set of three natural numbers, a b c, for which,
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
For example, 3^2 + 4^2 = 9 + 16 = 25 = 52.
There exists exactly one Pythagorean triplet for which a + b + c = 1000. Find the product abc.
My solution is in c++:
int a,b,c;
const int sum = 1000;
int result = -1;
for (a = 1; a<sum; a++){
for (b = 1; b < sum; b++){
c = sum-a-b;
if (a*a+b*b == c*c){
result = a*b*c;
goto found;
}
}
}
found:
std::cout << "a:" << a << std::endl;
std::cout << "b:" << b << std::endl;
std::cout << "c:" << c << std::endl;
std::cout <<"Result:" << result << std::endl;
Since "goto" statements are not very popular among c++ programmers, i would like to know, if this could be considered a reasonable use of "goto". Or if there is a better solution for the problem that doesn't need "goto". By that I don't mean a solution which just avoids "goto", but which avoids "goto" in a way that improves the algorithm.
@MatheusRocha Yes, it does. In fact, C++ has special rules about goto that prevent programmers from making improper jumps, e.g. jumping over initialization.
NOTE − Use of goto statement is highly discouraged in any programming language because it makes difficult to trace the control flow of a program, making the program hard to understand and hard to modify. Any program that uses a goto can be rewritten to avoid them.
"The GOTO statement is generally considered to be a poor programming practice that leads to unwieldy programs. Its use should be avoided."
goto statement in C/C++ The goto statement is a jump statement which is sometimes also referred to as unconditional jump statement. The goto statement can be used to jump from anywhere to anywhere within a function.
return
is a "structured" goto
which many programmers find more acceptable! So:
static int findit(int sum, int* pa, int* pb, int* pc)
{
for (int a = 1; a<sum; a++) {
for (int b = 1; b < sum; b++) {
int c = sum-a-b;
if (a*a+b*b == c*c) {
*pa = a; *pb = b; *pc = c;
return a*b*c;
}
}
return -1;
}
int main() {
int a, b, c;
const int sum = 1000;
int result = findit(sum, &a, &b, &c);
if (result == -1) {
std::cout << "No result!" << std::endl;
return 1;
}
std::cout << "a:" << a << std::endl;
std::cout << "b:" << b << std::endl;
std::cout << "c:" << c << std::endl;
std::cout <<"Result:" << result << std::endl;
return 0;
}
In my opinion it's fine to use goto
in a situation like this.
Btw, the condescending preaching against goto usually comes from people who just parrot what they heard others say or read somewhere..
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