Editing 292: goto
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | ''{{w|Goto}}'' is a construct found in many computer languages that causes control flow to go from one place in a program to another, without returning. Once common in computer programming, its popularity diminished in the 1960s and 1970s as focus on {{w|structured programming}} became the norm. {{w|Edsger W. Dijkstra}}'s article [ | + | ''{{w|Goto}}'' is a construct found in many computer languages that causes control flow to go from one place in a program to another, without returning. Once common in computer programming, its popularity diminished in the 1960s and 1970s as focus on {{w|structured programming}} became the norm. {{w|Edsger W. Dijkstra}}'s article [http://www.u.arizona.edu/~rubinson/copyright_violations/Go_To_Considered_Harmful.html "Go To Statement Considered Harmful"] in particular contributed to the decline of ''goto.'' |
− | Often | + | Often people learning programming are told ''goto'' is bad and should be avoided, but frequently are not given a good reason. [[Cueball]], as one of these people, sees no harm in using ''goto'' to avoid rewriting much of his program. As a result, he is attacked by a [[velociraptor]]. Velociraptor attacks are a running joke (and fear) often expressed in [[xkcd]]. The humor derives from the fact that a velociraptor attack is an [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong unexpected and severe consequence] of using a ''goto'' statement.{{Citation needed}} |
− | The | + | The title text refers to {{w|Neal Stephenson}}, an author of cyberpunk novels. A label is used in many programming languages to refer to a point in a program that a goto instruction can jump to. The joke is that one of Stephenson's characters in ''{{w|Cryptonomicon}}'' is named Goto Dengo. When said out loud, "Dengo" sounds like "Then go." |
− | + | ==Trivia== | |
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+ | Like all velociraptors in xkcd, the velociraptor in this comic is specifically the man-sized movie monster from ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}.'' Real velociraptors were more like [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vraptor-scale.png carnivorous turkeys.] The beast devouring Cueball might actually be ''[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dromie_scale.png Deinonychus antirrhopus.]'' | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Cueball sits at computer, thinking.] |
− | :Cueball: I could restructure the program's flow | + | :Cueball: I could restructure the program's flow - or use one little 'GOTO' instead. |
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:Cueball: Eh, screw good practice. How bad can it be? | :Cueball: Eh, screw good practice. How bad can it be? | ||
:Text on computer: <tt>goto main_sub3;</tt> | :Text on computer: <tt>goto main_sub3;</tt> | ||
:<nowiki>*Compile*</nowiki> | :<nowiki>*Compile*</nowiki> | ||
− | + | :[Cueball looks at the computer.] | |
− | :[ | + | :[A raptor jumps into the panel and attacks Cueball.] |
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− | :[A raptor jumps into the panel | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} |