kurt

Is it possible to replace a while-loop by just using "if" statements?

I can't remember what was the problem to solve, but in one of my interviews last year, the interviewee asked "can you do that (the while loop) with just 'if' statements".

I answered 'no', but apparently the answer was 'yes'. Forgot to ask her how though.

I just remembered this scenario this morning (out of the blue), and i am curious how to do that.

Is is possible?

Thanks in advance.

grumpy

This strikes me as a homework exercise, so I won't say anything other than "yes, it is possible".

kurt

oh yeah, "goto" eh...

it wasn't on top of my head since i was advised not to use goto since my first programming class...

ah, should have thought of that!

DaWei

On the subject of 'goto', I usually say that it is not evil, but is almost always a sign of a coder who hasn't mastered simple basics. Such a coder is usually headed for trouble in the form of deep doo doo.

I'm thinking of changing my position to this: it is evil, but occassionally we have to consort with the devil. Wear asbestos pants.

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Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code.
Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

kruptof

well de he say you can't use recursion? if he didn't then you can use the if statement to test for an condition to stop recursion.

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Twilight

What is the problem with Goto statements? I've dabbled in a little assembly code, where gotos are your bread and butter. Is it just considered terrible form to use them in higher languages?

Seif

aaah the ol' goto's... remind me of my zx spectrum days

kruptof

I think the reason why they are sort of frowned upon is that when reading code and you see a goto statement you have to look for that label, which is really sort of messy like”spaghetti". It would be much easier just to put that fragment of code into a function then call that function.

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DaWei

The 'goto' (jump, branch) is a staple of assembly language. Without branches and conditional constructs our computers just wouldn't work. Higher level languages (more abstraction) were invented to divorce us from having to deal with the Von Neumann architecture, and put us nearer the realm of straightforward human thought. Gotos generally destroy the comprehensible flow of a solution. The nature of the constructs available to us is that they provide the necessary gotos under the hood, in the guise of more obvious and rational transitions from one point to another. A person that hasn't seen the evils of a direct goto is not an experienced coder.

__________________
Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code.
Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

grumpy

By that definition (A person that hasn't seen the evils of a direct goto is not an experienced coder), DaWei, the majority of programmers today are not experienced coders. And Java programmers can never be experienced.:beard: