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Are there exceptions in C? If I’m interviewing someone for a programming job and I see goto in there C code... they better have an amazing reason or they won’t

Are there exceptions in C? If I’m interviewing someone for a programming job and I see goto in there C code... they better have an amazing reason or they won’t be getting the job. Harsh, but it’s reality of how few people are suited for embedded programming.

Koshkin 6y ago
Not sure what presence or absence of the goto has to do with embedded programming.
Gibbon1 6y ago
I spend a lot of time dicking with embedded C code. I think using goto is reasonable some cases. The classic case is to short circuit a block of code when there is an error of some sort. function(){ // early returns here. // stuff // more stuff if(oops_err){ goto some_error; } // yet more stuff // normal exit return 0; // bad exit some_error: // clean up return oops_err; } The above is fine, you avoid a convoluted execution path. Or cleanup and a return in the middle of a function. Looking at the top of the function you see early returns. Looking at the end you see the normal and error exits.
- rtomayko 6y ago
  This is specifically allowed in the Linux kernel coding style guidelines as well FWIW: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/coding-style.html#centralized-exiting-of-functions https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/coding-style.h...
- someguydave 6y ago
  Not only is it fine, I think it's easier to reason about the control flow with this code than with languages that support exceptions like C++.
asveikau 6y ago
Standard C has no exceptions. Goto is the typical way to handle errors without creating a hell mess of "hm, gotta close this file, free that buffer, blah blah" at every step where you might want to bail early. There are a few alternatives but none of them are better than goto and a few can be said to be worse.
FpUser 6y ago
While not being a prescribed way of doing things (deservedly) goto as well as some other "obsolete" tricks sometimes can actually make sense in low level C code especially on micro-controllers. Denying potential job to a person on a basis of generic "goto is anathema" mantra is not a good idea until one looks at the code and understands what the "offensive" part is actually doing instead of using some code analyzer/text search blindly.
jhomedall 6y ago
Using goto is standard for handling errors in C. It's used pervasively in the Linux kernel.

Koshkin 6y ago

Not sure what presence or absence of the goto has to do with embedded programming.

Gibbon1 6y ago

I spend a lot of time dicking with embedded C code. I think using goto is reasonable some cases. The classic case is to short circuit a block of code when there is an error of some sort. function(){ // early returns here. // stuff // more stuff if(oops_err){ goto some_error; } // yet more stuff // normal exit return 0; // bad exit some_error: // clean up return oops_err; } The above is fine, you avoid a convoluted execution path. Or cleanup and a return in the middle of a function. Looking at the top of the function you see early returns. Looking at the end you see the normal and error exits.

rtomayko 6y ago
This is specifically allowed in the Linux kernel coding style guidelines as well FWIW: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/coding-style.html#centralized-exiting-of-functions https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/coding-style.h...
someguydave 6y ago
Not only is it fine, I think it's easier to reason about the control flow with this code than with languages that support exceptions like C++.

asveikau 6y ago

Standard C has no exceptions. Goto is the typical way to handle errors without creating a hell mess of "hm, gotta close this file, free that buffer, blah blah" at every step where you might want to bail early. There are a few alternatives but none of them are better than goto and a few can be said to be worse.

FpUser 6y ago

While not being a prescribed way of doing things (deservedly) goto as well as some other "obsolete" tricks sometimes can actually make sense in low level C code especially on micro-controllers. Denying potential job to a person on a basis of generic "goto is anathema" mantra is not a good idea until one looks at the code and understands what the "offensive" part is actually doing instead of using some code analyzer/text search blindly.

jhomedall 6y ago

Using goto is standard for handling errors in C. It's used pervasively in the Linux kernel.