Here are two examples of how GOTO can simplify code and actually make it more readable and easier to understand.
1. GOTO can be used to exit an IF block:
<?php
if(something) {
if(nothing) goto endif;
// blah blah
// blah blah
endif:
// Nothing here, but maybe some cleanup
}
?>
2. GOTO can be used to jump ahead to a section of code. This can be useful for trouble shooting or testing a script in small stages.
<?php
goto block3;
block1:
// blah blah
block2:
// blah blah
block3:
// blah blah
?>
Note that in both cases, I have gone forward, not backward. This makes it more manageable.
In the case of the IF block, many structures, such as a loop, a switch or a function, have an early exit, such as break or return. IF doesn't, so this is a workable solution
goto
(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7)
goto 操作符可以用来跳转到程序中的另一位置。该目标位置可以用目标名称加上冒号来标记，而跳转指令是 goto 之后接上目标位置的标记。PHP 中的 goto 有一定限制，目标位置只能位于同一个文件和作用域，也就是说无法跳出一个函数或类方法，也无法跳入到另一个函数。也无法跳入到任何循环或者 switch 结构中。可以跳出循环或者 switch，通常的用法是用 goto 代替多层的 break。
Example #1 goto 示例
<?php
goto a;
echo 'Foo';
a:
echo 'Bar';
?>
以上例程会输出：
Bar
Example #2 goto 跳出循环示例
<?php
for($i=0,$j=50; $i<100; $i++) {
while($j--) {
if($j==17) goto end;
}
}
echo "i = $i";
end:
echo 'j hit 17';
?>
以上例程会输出：
j hit 17
Example #3 以下写法无效
<?php
goto loop;
for($i=0,$j=50; $i<100; $i++) {
while($j--) {
loop:
}
}
echo "$i = $i";
?>
以上例程会输出：
Fatal error: 'goto' into loop or switch statement is disallowed in script on line 2
Note:
goto 操作符仅在 PHP 5.3及以上版本有效。
User Contributed Notes
Mark
05-Sep-2017 04:26
at YearOfCodes (retrobytespr at mail dot com)
06-Jul-2017 07:05
Here is an example of re-using labels in separate methods - in this example, the end: label is used in each, with the goto condition behaving like an if/else condition:
class DateController
{
public $day, $month, $year;
public function __construct(){
$this->day = $this->setDays();
$this->month = $this->setMonths();
$this->year = $this->setYears(1901, (int)date('Y'), 'asc');
}
/**
* @param int
* @return array
*/
protected function setDays(int $default = 0){
$days = array();
for($i = 1; $i <= 31; $i++){
$day = "{$i}";
if($i<10){
$day = "0{$i}";
}
$days[$day] = $day;
}
if($default == 0){
goto end;
}
$days['default'] = $default;
end:
return $days;
}
/**
* @param string, string, string
* @return array
*/
protected function setMonths(string $type = "full", string $keyType = "numeric", string $default = ''){
$keys = array(
'numeric' => array(
"01", "02", "03", "04", "05", "06", "07", "08", "09", "10", "11", "12"
),
'full' => array(
"January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July",
"August", "September", "October", "November", "December"
),
'short' => array(
"Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun",
"Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"
)
);
$months = array();
$index = 0;
foreach($keys[$keyType] as $primaryKey){
$months[$primaryKey] = $keys[$type][$index];
$index++;
}
if($default = ''){
goto end;
}
$months['default'] = $default;
end:
return $months;
}
/**
* @param int, int, string
* @return array
*/
protected function setYears(int $start = 1977, int $end = 2017, $order = "asc"){
$years = array();
if($order == "asc"){
for($i = $start; $i <= $end; $i++){
$years["{$i}"] = $i;
}
goto end;
}
for($i = $end; $i >= $start; $i--){
$years["{$i}"] = $i;
}
end:
return $years;
}
}
R. Borchmann
17-Feb-2017 05:24
If you feel the urge to leave a nested loop with goto, better think again. Probably you've got a piece of your code that should be refactored into a function.
Instead of
<?php
for ($i=0; $i<10; $i++) {
for ($j=$i, $j<11; $j++) {
if ( $data[$i] === $data[$j] )
goto foundit;
}
}
echo "Sorry, no match";
goto nextAction;
foundit:
echo "Duplicate at $i and $j)";
nextAction:
?>
you better write
<?php
list($success, $i, $j) = searchForDuplicate( $data );
if ($success)
echo "Found it at ($i, $j)";
else
echo "Sorry, no match";
function searchForDuplicate( &$data )
{
for ($i=0; $i<10; $i++) {
for ($j=$i, $j<11; $j++) {
if ( $data[$i] === $data[$j] )
return [ true, $i, $j ];
}
}
return [false];
}
?>
or return [$i, $j] and [-1, -1] if you don't like an extra $success variable. Refactoring into a function is cleaner and gives you an auto-documentation about what the loop is doing.
kle at lekhoi dot com
24-Jun-2016 01:37
Goto can also go into an infinite loop as the example below.
<?php
goto start;
start: echo 'start';
working: {
echo 'working';
...
goto start;
echo 'never executed';
}
?>
Output
startworkingstartworking ...
D. Kellner
31-Oct-2015 11:12
However hated, goto is useful. When we say "useful" we don't mean "it should be used all the time" but that there are certain situations when it comes in handy.
There are times when you need a logical structure like this:
<?php
// ...
do {
$answer = checkFirstSource();
if(seemsGood($answer)) break;
$answer = readFromAnotherSource();
if(seemsGood($answer)) break;
// ...
}while(0);
$answer = applyFinalTouches($answer);
return $answer;
?>
In this case, you certainly implemented a goto with a "fake loop pattern". It could be a lot more readable with a goto; unless, of course, you hate it. But the logic is clear: try everything you can to get $answer, and whenever it seems good (e.g. not empty), jump happily to the point where you format it and give it back to the caller. It's a proper implementation of a simple fallback mechanism.
Basically, the fight against goto is just a side effect of a misleading article many decades ago. Those monsters are gone now. Feel free to use it when you know what you're doing.
ivan dot tc at gmail dot com
23-Oct-2015 11:10
This works good:
<?php
goto start;
five:
echo $i;
goto end;
start:
echo 'I have ';
for ($i=0; $i < 10; $i++) {
if ($i == 5) {
goto five;
}
}
end:
echo ' apples';
?>
Output: I have 5 apples.
This don't work:
<?php
goto start;
five:
echo $i;
goto end;
start:
echo 'I have ';
$count();
end:
echo ' apples';
$count = function () {
for ($i=0; $i < 10; $i++) {
if ($i == 5) {
goto five; // line 18
}
}
}
?>
PHP Fatal error: 'goto' to undefined label 'five' on line 18
ivan dot sammartino at gmail dot com
13-Oct-2015 08:38
I found it useful for switch statements:
<?php
$action = $_GET['action'];
switch ($action){
case('a'):
mylabel: {
doStuff();
break;
}
case('b'):
if (true){
doAnotherStuff();
} else {
goto mylabel;
}
break;
}
?>
sixoclockish at gmail dot com
14-Jun-2012 04:58
You are also allowed to jump backwards with a goto statement. To run a block of goto as one block is as follows:
example has a prefix of iw_ to keep label groups structured and an extra underscore to do a backwards goto.
Note the `iw_end_gt` to get out of the labels area
<?php
$link = true;
if ( $link ) goto iw_link_begin;
if(false) iw__link_begin:
if ( $link ) goto iw_link_text;
if(false) iw__link_text:
if ( $link ) goto iw_link_end;
if(false) iw__link_end:
goto iw_end_gt;
if (false) iw_link_begin:
echo '<a href="#">';
goto iw__link_begin;
if (false) iw_link_text:
echo 'Sample Text';
goto iw__link_text;
if (false) iw_link_end:
echo '</a>';
goto iw__link_end;
iw_end_gt:
?>
f at francislacroix dot info
30-Nov-2011 10:11
The goto operator CAN be evaluated with eval, provided the label is in the eval'd code:
<?php
a: eval("goto a;"); // undefined label 'a'
eval("a: goto a;"); // works
?>
It's because PHP does not consider the eval'd code, containing the label, to be in the same "file" as the goto statement.
Ray dot Paseur at Gmail dot com
27-Oct-2011 03:59
You cannot implement a Fortran-style "computed GOTO" in PHP because the label cannot be a variable. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Considered_harmful
<?php // RAY_goto.php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
// DEMONSTRATE THAT THE GOTO LABEL IS CASE-SENSITIVE
goto a;
echo 'Foo';
a: echo 'Bar';
goto A;
echo 'Foo';
A: echo 'Baz';
// CAN THE GOTO LABEL BE A VARIABLE?
$a = 'abc';
goto $a; // NOPE: PARSE ERROR
echo 'Foo';
abc: echo 'Boom';
?>
chrisstocktonaz at gmail dot com
08-Aug-2009 12:03
Remember if you are not a fan of wild labels hanging around you are free to use braces in this construct creating a slightly cleaner look. Labels also are always executed and do not need to be called to have their associated code block ran. A purposeless example is below.
<?php
$headers = Array('subject', 'bcc', 'to', 'cc', 'date', 'sender');
$position = 0;
hIterator: {
$c = 0;
echo $headers[$position] . PHP_EOL;
cIterator: {
echo ' ' . $headers[$position][$c] . PHP_EOL;
if(!isset($headers[$position][++$c])) {
goto cIteratorExit;
}
goto cIterator;
}
cIteratorExit: {
if(isset($headers[++$position])) {
goto hIterator;
}
}
}
?>