Yes, you can, but that doesn't read very well to my eyes, given most function names. if(open()), if(read()), if (CreateWindowExW()), all suggest success to me

Yes, you can, but that doesn't read very well to my eyes, given most function names. if(open()), if(read()), if (CreateWindowExW()), all suggest success to me. if (!open(...)) goto fail; if (!read(...)) goto fail; if (!close(...)) goto fail; reads a lot nicer to me. Although, the reality is that you need to assign to an error variable, which makes it not as nice and clean.