GOSUB is a command in many versions of the BASIC computer programming language. A GOSUB statement jumps to a line elsewhere in the program. That line and the following lines up to a RETURN are used as a simple kind of a subroutine without (sometimes with) parameters or local variables.

The GOSUB command may be used to emulate subroutines in a BASIC dialect that does not support subroutines in its syntax. GOSUB is convenient for performing the same function several times in a BASIC program without duplicating the code.^[1]

RETURN [link]

A RETURN command resumes program flow from the point at which GOSUB was invoked.

Using GOSUB too many times, as in a loop or recursively, without corresponding RETURN statements, would typically cause a stack overflow. On the other hand, when the BASIC interpreter encounters a RETURN statement without a GOSUB it will emit a RETURN WITHOUT GOSUB error.

Computed GOSUB [link]

A computed GOSUB statement, ON...GOSUB, exists in some BASIC dialects. The syntax of the statement is ON x GOSUB line1, line2, ... Computed GOSUB branches to one of several destinations based on the value of x. RETURN commands return program flow to the statement following ON..GOSUB.

Support [link]

Not all BASIC implementations support GOSUB or ON..GOSUB. For example, in FreeBASIC GOSUB is considered as deprecated in favor of SUB/FUNCTION, and is disabled by default.^[2] In Visual Basic, GOSUB and ON..GOSUB were removed when VB.NET was released.

See also [link]

• GOTO

References [link]

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