Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!rpi!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!wuarchive!texbell!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: problems/risks due to programming language
Message-ID: <V4-1JQExds13@ficc.uu.net>
Date: 26 Feb 90 15:28:35 GMT
References: <SUY1G_Fxds13@ficc.uu.net> <8145@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Reply-To: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
Lines: 33

First of all, my point about gotos had nothing to do with your point
about gotos.

In article <8145@hubcap.clemson.edu> billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu writes:
>    Many (including Peter) have re-observed that this is the way C's switch
>    currently operates, but to date nobody has provided any justification for
>    having it continue to operate that way.

I'm not going to bother continuing this discussion. The very article you were
referencing shows an example of how the C switch construct may be profitably
used. I can show you the working code I based that example on, if you like.
By all means make 'break' the default... but provide a convenient (not
involving explicit gotos) method of falling through to the next case.

The construct you seek has existed in C from the beginning:

#define CASE switch {
#define WHEN break; case
#define OR : case
#define DO :
#define OTHERWISE default:
#define ESAC }

	CASE (language)
		WHEN ADA OR COBOL DO
			blame the DOD;
		WHEN C OR FORTH DO
			blame people who wanted to get
			real work done instead of building
			more beauracracy;
		OTHERWISE
			see appropriate ANSI standards;
	ESAC
-- 
 _--_|\  Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. <peter@ficc.uu.net>.
/      \
\_.--._/ Xenix Support -- it's not just a job, it's an adventure!
      v  "Have you hugged your wolf today?" `-_-'