Flow Control Statements

In computer programming, the flow control statements and other constructs control the order in which loopingoperations are executed. For example, common statements such as for…next and while are known as flow control statements. Branching statements, such as if…then are also part of a programming language's flow control mechanism (Flow control).

Flow control statements alter the normal flow of program execution or the execution logic of a control construct. (Flow control statements).

The CONTINUE statement has no effect on program execution. It is generally used to mark a place for a statement label. The CYCLE statement interrupts execution of the current iteration of a DO loop. The EXIT statement terminates a DO loop. If it specifies the name of a DO loop within a nest of DO loops, the EXIT statement terminates all loops by which it is enclosed, up to and including the named DO loop.

The computed GO TO statement transfers control to one of several labeled statements, as determined by the value of an arithmetic expression. The unconditional GO TO statement transfers control to the statement with the specified label.

The arithmetic IF transfers control to one of three labeled statements, as determined by the value of an arithmetic expression. The logical IF statement executes a single statement, conditional upon the value of a logical expression. The statement it executes must not be a statement used to begin a construct, any END statement, or any IF statement.

The PAUSE statement causes a temporary break in program execution. The STOP statement terminates program execution.

The IF-THEN statement is the most basic of all the control flow statements. It tells your program to execute a certain section of code only if a particular test evaluates to TRUE.

Bibliography

"Flow control." n.d. Webopedia. 28 March 2009 .

"Flow control statements." n.d. Hewlett Packard. 28 March 2009 .