What is the GO statement in COBOL?

GO is an unconditional transfer statement that immediately transfers program control to a specified paragraph or section. It causes an immediate jump to the target location without return, similar to GOTO in other programming languages.

How do I use GO TO in COBOL programs?

Use GO TO followed by a paragraph or section name: GO TO paragraph-name. The program immediately jumps to that location and continues execution from there. Control does not return to the statement following GO TO.

MainframeMaster

COBOL Tutorial

COBOL GO Statement

Q: Why is GO TO considered poor programming practice?

GO TO creates unstructured program flow that's difficult to follow, debug, and maintain. It can lead to 'spaghetti code' where program logic jumps around unpredictably. Modern structured programming uses PERFORM, IF-ELSE, and other control structures instead.

The GO statement represents a fundamental but controversial program control transfer mechanism within COBOL programming environments, serving as an unconditional branching instruction that immediately transfers execution control to a specified paragraph or section without providing return capability. This statement embodies the principles of direct program flow manipulation by enabling immediate control transfer operations, supporting legacy programming patterns, and facilitating specific control flow requirements while presenting significant challenges to structured programming practices and code maintainability in modern enterprise applications that prioritize readable, maintainable, and debuggable code architectures with predictable execution patterns and clear program logic flow.

Syntax and Usage

GO Statement Syntax

cobol

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
GO TO paragraph-name
GO TO section-name
 
*> Examples:
GO TO ERROR-HANDLING
GO TO CLEANUP-SECTION
GO TO END-PROCESSING

Control Transfer

Unconditional

Legacy Pattern

Basic GO Examples (Legacy Patterns)

cobol

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. GO-STATEMENT-EXAMPLES.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  PROCESS-CODE            PIC X.
    88  NORMAL-PROCESSING   VALUE 'N'.
    88  ERROR-PROCESSING    VALUE 'E'.
    88  SPECIAL-PROCESSING  VALUE 'S'.
01  ERROR-FLAG              PIC X VALUE 'N'.
01  RECORD-COUNT            PIC 9(5) VALUE 0.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-PROCESSING.
    DISPLAY 'Starting application...'
    
    *> Legacy pattern using GO TO (NOT RECOMMENDED)
    ACCEPT PROCESS-CODE
    
    IF NORMAL-PROCESSING
        GO TO NORMAL-PROCESS
    ELSE
        IF ERROR-PROCESSING
            GO TO ERROR-PROCESS
        ELSE
            IF SPECIAL-PROCESSING
                GO TO SPECIAL-PROCESS
            ELSE
                GO TO INVALID-INPUT
            END-IF
        END-IF
    END-IF.
 
NORMAL-PROCESS.
    DISPLAY 'Processing normal operations...'
    ADD 1 TO RECORD-COUNT
    
    IF RECORD-COUNT > 1000
        GO TO CAPACITY-WARNING
    END-IF
    
    DISPLAY 'Normal processing completed'
    GO TO END-PROCESSING.
 
ERROR-PROCESS.
    DISPLAY 'Processing error conditions...'
    MOVE 'Y' TO ERROR-FLAG
    GO TO ERROR-CLEANUP.
 
SPECIAL-PROCESS.
    DISPLAY 'Processing special operations...'
    PERFORM SPECIAL-VALIDATION
    
    IF ERROR-FLAG = 'Y'
        GO TO ERROR-CLEANUP
    END-IF
    
    GO TO END-PROCESSING.
 
CAPACITY-WARNING.
    DISPLAY 'Warning: Approaching capacity limit'
    GO TO END-PROCESSING.
 
INVALID-INPUT.
    DISPLAY 'Error: Invalid process code entered'
    MOVE 'Y' TO ERROR-FLAG
    GO TO ERROR-CLEANUP.
 
ERROR-CLEANUP.
    DISPLAY 'Performing error cleanup...'
    DISPLAY 'Error flag status: ' ERROR-FLAG
    GO TO END-PROCESSING.
 
SPECIAL-VALIDATION.
    *> Simulate validation that might set error flag
    IF RECORD-COUNT < 0
        MOVE 'Y' TO ERROR-FLAG
    END-IF.
 
END-PROCESSING.
    DISPLAY 'Application ending...'
    DISPLAY 'Final record count: ' RECORD-COUNT
    STOP RUN.

Problems with GO TO

Maintainability Issues

• Difficult to follow program logic
• Hard to debug and trace execution
• Creates "spaghetti code" patterns
• Complicates code modifications

Structural Problems

• Breaks structured programming rules
• No automatic return mechanism
• Unpredictable control flow
• Difficult testing and validation

Interactive Tutorial

Hands-On Exercise: Refactoring GO TO

Learn to replace GO TO with structured programming constructs

Exercise 1: Before - Using GO TO (Poor Practice)

cobol

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-LOGIC.
    ACCEPT USER-INPUT
    
    IF USER-INPUT = 'A'
        GO TO PROCESS-A
    ELSE
        IF USER-INPUT = 'B'
            GO TO PROCESS-B
        ELSE
            GO TO ERROR-HANDLER
        END-IF
    END-IF.
 
PROCESS-A.
    DISPLAY 'Processing option A'
    GO TO END-PROGRAM.
 
PROCESS-B.
    DISPLAY 'Processing option B'
    GO TO END-PROGRAM.
 
ERROR-HANDLER.
    DISPLAY 'Invalid input'
    GO TO END-PROGRAM.
 
END-PROGRAM.
    STOP RUN.

Exercise 2: After - Structured Approach (Best Practice)

cobol

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-LOGIC.
    ACCEPT USER-INPUT
    
    EVALUATE USER-INPUT
        WHEN 'A'
            PERFORM PROCESS-A
        WHEN 'B'
            PERFORM PROCESS-B
        WHEN OTHER
            PERFORM ERROR-HANDLER
    END-EVALUATE
    
    STOP RUN.
 
PROCESS-A.
    DISPLAY 'Processing option A'.
 
PROCESS-B.
    DISPLAY 'Processing option B'.
 
ERROR-HANDLER.
    DISPLAY 'Invalid input'.

Modern Alternatives to GO TO

cobol

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
PROGRAM-ID. STRUCTURED-ALTERNATIVES.
 
DATA DIVISION.
WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
01  OPERATION-CODE          PIC X.
01  PROCESSING-COMPLETE     PIC X VALUE 'N'.
01  ERROR-OCCURRED          PIC X VALUE 'N'.
 
PROCEDURE DIVISION.
MAIN-PROCESSING.
    *> Modern structured approach instead of GO TO
    PERFORM INITIALIZATION
    PERFORM MAIN-LOOP UNTIL PROCESSING-COMPLETE = 'Y'
    PERFORM CLEANUP
    STOP RUN.
 
INITIALIZATION.
    DISPLAY 'System initialization...'
    MOVE 'N' TO PROCESSING-COMPLETE
    MOVE 'N' TO ERROR-OCCURRED.
 
MAIN-LOOP.
    ACCEPT OPERATION-CODE
    
    *> Using EVALUATE instead of multiple GO TO statements
    EVALUATE OPERATION-CODE
        WHEN '1'
            PERFORM DATA-ENTRY
        WHEN '2'
            PERFORM REPORT-GENERATION
        WHEN '3'
            PERFORM MAINTENANCE
        WHEN 'Q'
            MOVE 'Y' TO PROCESSING-COMPLETE
        WHEN OTHER
            PERFORM INVALID-OPTION
    END-EVALUATE
    
    *> Structured error handling instead of GO TO
    IF ERROR-OCCURRED = 'Y'
        PERFORM ERROR-RECOVERY
        MOVE 'N' TO ERROR-OCCURRED
    END-IF.
 
DATA-ENTRY.
    DISPLAY 'Performing data entry operations...'
    *> Structured validation
    PERFORM VALIDATE-INPUT
    IF ERROR-OCCURRED = 'N'
        PERFORM SAVE-DATA
    END-IF.
 
REPORT-GENERATION.
    DISPLAY 'Generating reports...'
    PERFORM CHECK-PREREQUISITES
    IF ERROR-OCCURRED = 'N'
        PERFORM CREATE-REPORT
    END-IF.
 
MAINTENANCE.
    DISPLAY 'Performing maintenance...'
    PERFORM BACKUP-DATA
    PERFORM CLEANUP-TEMP-FILES.
 
INVALID-OPTION.
    DISPLAY 'Invalid option selected'
    MOVE 'Y' TO ERROR-OCCURRED.
 
VALIDATE-INPUT.
    *> Input validation logic
    CONTINUE.
 
SAVE-DATA.
    *> Data saving logic
    CONTINUE.
 
CHECK-PREREQUISITES.
    *> Prerequisite checking logic
    CONTINUE.
 
CREATE-REPORT.
    *> Report creation logic
    CONTINUE.
 
BACKUP-DATA.
    *> Backup logic
    CONTINUE.
 
CLEANUP-TEMP-FILES.
    *> Cleanup logic
    CONTINUE.
 
ERROR-RECOVERY.
    DISPLAY 'Performing error recovery...'
    *> Error recovery logic
    CONTINUE.
 
CLEANUP.
    DISPLAY 'System cleanup completed'.

Best Practices

Knowledge Check

Test Your Understanding

Question 1: Basic Syntax

What's the syntax for an unconditional jump to a paragraph?

Answer: GO TO paragraph-name

Question 2: Modern Alternative

What structured construct should replace GO TO for conditional logic?

Answer: Use IF-THEN-ELSE for two-way conditions, EVALUATE for multi-way selection, and PERFORM for subroutine calls.

Question 3: Problems

Why is GO TO considered poor programming practice?

Answer: GO TO creates unstructured, hard-to-follow code that's difficult to debug, maintain, and understand. It breaks structured programming principles and can lead to "spaghetti code."

Refactoring Patterns

Legacy Pattern (Avoid)

cobol

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
MAIN-LOGIC.
    IF CONDITION-A
        GO TO PROCESS-A
    ELSE
        GO TO PROCESS-B
    END-IF.
 
PROCESS-A.
    *> Processing A
    GO TO END-PROCESSING.
 
PROCESS-B.
    *> Processing B
    GO TO END-PROCESSING.
 
END-PROCESSING.
    STOP RUN.

Modern Pattern (Preferred)

cobol

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
MAIN-LOGIC.
    IF CONDITION-A
        PERFORM PROCESS-A
    ELSE
        PERFORM PROCESS-B
    END-IF
    
    STOP RUN.
 
PROCESS-A.
    *> Processing A
    CONTINUE.
 
PROCESS-B.
    *> Processing B
    CONTINUE.

COBOL Tutorial

COBOL GO Statement

Syntax and Usage

Basic GO Examples (Legacy Patterns)

Problems with GO TO

Interactive Tutorial

Exercise 1: Before - Using GO TO (Poor Practice)

Exercise 2: After - Structured Approach (Best Practice)

Modern Alternatives to GO TO

Best Practices

Knowledge Check

Question 1: Basic Syntax

Question 2: Modern Alternative

Question 3: Problems

Refactoring Patterns

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Concepts

Program Flow Control

Structured Programming

Control Structures

Related Pages

COBOL Tutorial

COBOL GO Statement

Syntax and Usage

Basic GO Examples (Legacy Patterns)

Problems with GO TO

Interactive Tutorial

Exercise 1: Before - Using GO TO (Poor Practice)

Exercise 2: After - Structured Approach (Best Practice)

Modern Alternatives to GO TO

Best Practices

Avoiding GO TO

Structured Alternatives

Dealing with Legacy GO TO

Knowledge Check

Question 1: Basic Syntax

Question 2: Modern Alternative

Question 3: Problems

Refactoring Patterns

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any valid uses for GO TO in modern COBOL?

How do I refactor existing GO TO statements?

What's the difference between GO TO and PERFORM?

Can GO TO jump to any paragraph in the program?

Related Concepts

Program Flow Control

Structured Programming

Control Structures

Related Pages