Do complex control structures improve the readability of programs?

Answer 1

Yes. However a control structure need not be complex. A control structure is simply a language mechanism that allows us to more easily express an otherwise procedural concept. For instance, consider the following procedural loop:

int x=0;

again:

if (!(x<10)) goto end;

// lots of statements...

++x;

goto again:

end:

This loop is much more easily expressed using a control structure:

for (int x=0; x<10; ++x) {

// lots of statements...

}

The resulting machine code will be exactly the same, so the level of complexity has not changed in any way. However, the latter is arguably much more readable because the loop conditions are all stated up front where they are easily seen and the body of the loop is contained within the loop statement itself.