is it a bad idea to use goto statements in guess the number game ? C#

Question

I am fairly new to programming. I've heard that using GOTO statements is not good. so i would appreciate any recommendations on what to use instead.Thanks for helping.

    Start:
        Random numGen = new Random();
        int num = numGen.Next(1, 101);
        Console.WriteLine("Guess the number between 1 and 100");
        Console.Write("Your answer: ");
    fail:
        int answer = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
        if (answer == num)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Congratulations,the number was " + num);
            Console.WriteLine();
            goto Start;
        }

        else if (answer > num)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Lower");
            goto fail;
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Higher");
            goto fail;
        }

https://codereview.stackexchange.com/ might suit this question better — M. Mimpen, Jun 09 '17 at 08:29
it's always a bad idea, there are so many better ways to organize your code — Icepickle, Jun 09 '17 at 08:29
Your question is opinion based and off-topic. I'd start by reading up on what the goto statement does so you can make your own mind up on its usage — Sayse, Jun 09 '17 at 08:34
There is no problem to experiment with `goto`. The alternative with `while(true)` loop below are not better in readability or something else. — i486, Jun 09 '17 at 08:42

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 09 '17 at 08:30

2

You could rewrite this, for example, to use a loop:

Random numGen = new Random();
int num = numGen.Next(1, 101);
Console.WriteLine("Guess the number between 1 and 100");
Console.Write("Your answer: ");

while(true) 
{
    int answer = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
    if (answer == num)
    {
        break;
    }

    if (answer > num)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Lower");
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Higher");
    }
}

Console.WriteLine("Congratulations,the number was " + num);
Console.WriteLine();

answered Jun 09 '17 at 08:30

CompuChip

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Thanks For your Help ! – Rashad Jun 09 '17 at 08:33
Though while(true) also makes the code unneccessarily difficult to read, because you have to find all the breaks within the loop. Better the use the while to define the condition. – JanErikGunnar Jun 09 '17 at 08:47
@JanErikGunnar I thought about that too but I couldn't really figure out a way without code repetition. – CompuChip Jun 09 '17 at 18:05
I made a change to the answer but the edit has not been accepted by peer review... Here is a suggestion: https://pastebin.com/UDgTeZCw – JanErikGunnar Jun 12 '17 at 07:55
Thought of that, but I don't like the "if( .. > .. ) else if ( .. < .. )" a lot either. – CompuChip Jun 12 '17 at 14:47
Why not? It's perfectly valid and easy to read. Searching through a block of code looking for "breaks" is not – JanErikGunnar Jun 13 '17 at 05:08

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 09 '17 at 08:39

I wouldn't say that Gotos are "always" a bad idea but wherever possible try to avoid them.

Here's a simplified version of your code:

var random = new Random();
while (true)
{
    var number = random.Next(1, 101);
    Console.WriteLine("Guess the number between 1 and 100");
    Console.Write("Your answer: ");
    int answer;
    while ((answer= Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine())) != number)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(answer > number ? "Lower" : "Higher");
    }
    Console.WriteLine("Congratulations,the number was " + number);
    Console.WriteLine();
}

is it a bad idea to use goto statements in guess the number game ? C#

2 Answers2