Editing C syntax (section)

===Jump statements===
Jump statements transfer control unconditionally. There are four types of [[Branch (computer science)|jump statements]] in C: [[GOTO|{{code|goto}}]], {{code|continue}}, {{code|break}}, and [[return statement|{{code|return}}]].

The {{code|goto}} statement looks like this:
<syntaxhighlight lang=C>
goto <identifier> ;
</syntaxhighlight>

The [[identifier]] must be a [[label (programming language)|label]] (followed by a colon) located in the current function. Control transfers to the labeled statement.

A {{code|continue}} statement may appear only within an [[C syntax#Iteration statements|iteration statement]] and causes control to pass to the loop-continuation portion of the innermost enclosing iteration statement. That is, within each of the statements

<syntaxhighlight lang=C>
while (expression)
{
    /* ... */
    cont: ;
}

do
{
    /* ... */
    cont: ;
} while (expression);

for (expr1; expr2; expr3) {
     /* ... */
     cont: ;
}
</syntaxhighlight>

a {{code|continue}} not contained within a nested iteration statement is the same as {{code|goto cont}}.

The {{code|break}} statement is used to end a {{code|for}} loop, {{code|while}} loop, {{code|do}} loop, or {{code|switch}} statement. Control passes to the statement following the terminated statement.

A function returns to its caller by the {{code|return}} statement. When {{code|return}} is followed by an expression, the value is returned to the caller as the value of the function. Encountering the end of the function is equivalent to a {{code|return}} with no expression. In that case, if the function is declared as returning a value and the caller tries to use the returned value, the result is undefined.

====Storing the address of a label====
[[GNU Compiler Collection|GCC]] extends the C language with a unary {{code|&&}} operator that returns the address of a label. This address can be stored in a {{code|void*}} variable type and may be used later in a {{code|goto}} instruction. For example, the following prints {{code|"hi "}} in an infinite loop:

<syntaxhighlight lang=C>
    void *ptr = &&J1;

J1: printf("hi ");
    goto *ptr;
</syntaxhighlight>

This feature can be used to implement a [[jump table]].