Acceptable Use of the goto Statement?

Question

So, I made a console interface. It prompts users with several options they can enter. 1 for the first option, 2 for the second option, etc. Using the switch statement, each option will bring them to a different screen. Now, after any of the options are entered and the users are brought to a particular screen, how do I get them back to the selection screen with those options? Would it be acceptable for me to do something along the lines of

selectionScreen:

printf("Enter 1 for the First Screen\n");
printf("Enter 2 for the Second Screen\n");
printf("Enter 3 for the Third Screen\n\n");

scanf("%d", &selection);

switch (selection)
{

case 1:

    //do and print stuff here

    for (i = 0 ; ; i ++)
    {

        //do and print stuff here

        while(GetAsyncKeyState(VK_TAB))
        {

            goto selectionScreen;

        }

         printf("Enter the Tab key to go back the selection screen.\n\n");
         printf("Enter any key besides Tab to reload!\n\n");

         getchar();

         system("CLS");

     }

    break;

case 2:

    //do and print stuff here

    for (i = 0; ; i++)
    {

        //do and print stuff here

        while(GetAsyncKeyState(VK_TAB))
        {

            goto selectionScreen;

        }

         printf("Enter the Tab key to go back the selection screen.\n\n");
         printf("Enter any key besides Tab to reload!\n\n");

         getchar();

         system("CLS");

     }

    break;

case 3:

    //do and print stuff here

    for (i = 0 ; ; i++)
    {

        //do and print stuff here

        while(GetAsyncKeyState(VK_TAB))
        {

            goto selectionScreen;

        }

         printf("Enter the Tab key to go back the selection screen.\n\n");
         printf("Enter any key besides Tab to reload!\n\n");

         getchar();

         system("CLS");

     }

    break;

default:

    //do stuff here

}

Or is there a more favorable way of doing this

Answer 1

I'm unsure if the posted code is exactly what's intended functionally, but the following would do the equivalent:

do
{
    printf("Enter 1 for the First Screen\n");
    printf("Enter 2 for the Second Screen\n");
    printf("Enter 3 for the Third Screen\n\n");

    scanf("%d", &selection);

    if ( selection < 1 || selection > 3 )
        break;

    switch (selection)
    {
    case 1:
        //do and print stuff here
        break;

    case 2:
        //do and print stuff here
        break;

    case 3:
        //do and print stuff here
        break;
    }
}
while ( GetAsyncKeyState(VK_TAB) );

I really can't remember the last time I used a goto. I think it was in a FORTRAN class.

Answer 2

Yes. It is acceptable.

You officially have permission to write code any way you want at any time. There are generally several ways to do just about anything. Your way works, and now you have valuable experience building control structures with gotos. That experience will be valuable in the future because other programs use gotos.

That being said, mbratch has put together another way to do it. I prefer his method, as it makes the code easier to read and maintain.

You should study and understand both techniques . Each technique is like an arrow. You put them in your quiver, and can head off to hunt bigger game. The more you know, the more dangerous you will be.