What does "indiscriminant branching statement" refer to in programming?

A "go to" statement that is unconditionally executed is accurately referred to as an indiscriminant branching statement. This type of statement directs the flow of execution in a program to a specified label or point, without any conditions or checks. This means that once the "go to" statement is executed, the program will jump to the designated location regardless of any surrounding logical conditions or program state.

In programming, such statements can lead to difficult-to-follow code, as they can create "spaghetti code," where the flow of execution is hard to trace due to the jumps. The use of indiscriminant branching can significantly reduce code readability and maintainability, emphasizing the importance of using structured programming techniques, like decision structures, loops, and exception handling, instead. These alternatives provide clearer logic in the flow of execution and better management of program state.