Control flow

see also The Thens.

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In computer science and in computer programming, statements in pseudocode or in a program are normally obeyed (or executed) one after the other in the order in which they are written (sequential flow of control).

Related Topics:
Computer science - Computer programming - Pseudocode - Program

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Most programming languages have control flow statements which allow variations in this sequential order:

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• statements may only be obeyed under certain conditions (choice),
• statements may be obeyed repeatedly (loops),
• a group of remote statements may be obeyed (subroutines).

The use of subroutines does not normally cause any control flow problems,

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but see the discussions below on early return, error recovery, and labels as parameters.

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At the machine-/assembly language level, it is usually the case that the only instructions available for handling choice and/or loops are goto and conditional goto (often known as variations of jump and/or branch). Compilers for high-level programming languages must translate all control-flow statements into these primitives.

Related Topics:
Machine- - Assembly language - Goto - Compiler - Programming language

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Control flow: Primitives ►