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Switch statementSwitch statement helps simplifying multiple choices in a program. Let's start with the sample problem. Problem. User enters month's number, then program tells month's name. If-based solutionFirst, let's solve it using if statement. import java.util.Scanner;
public class IfBasedSolution { public static void main(String[] args) { Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.print("Enter month's number: "); int monthNumber; monthNumber = in.nextInt(); if (monthNumber == 1) System.out.println("January"); else if (monthNumber == 2) System.out.println("February"); else if (monthNumber == 3) System.out.println("March"); else if (monthNumber == 4) System.out.println("April"); else if (monthNumber == 5) System.out.println("May"); else if (monthNumber == 6) System.out.println("June"); else if (monthNumber == 7) System.out.println("July"); else if (monthNumber == 8) System.out.println("August"); else if (monthNumber == 9) System.out.println("September"); else if (monthNumber == 10) System.out.println("October"); else if (monthNumber == 11) System.out.println("November"); else if (monthNumber == 12) System.out.println("December"); else System.out.println("Invalid month."); } } Enter month's number: 5 May One can see excessive code repetition: all lines with if are almost the same, except for one number. From the viewpoint of coding style it's not good at all. Switch-based solutionBy using switch statement, one gets more compact and better styled code: import java.util.Scanner;
public class SwitchBasedSolution { public static void main(String[] args) { Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.print("Enter month's number: "); int monthNumber; monthNumber = in.nextInt(); switch (monthNumber) { case 1: System.out.println("January"); break; case 2: System.out.println("February"); break; case 3: System.out.println("March"); break; case 4: System.out.println("April"); break; case 5: System.out.println("May"); break; case 6: System.out.println("June"); break; case 7: System.out.println("July"); break; case 8: System.out.println("August"); break; case 9: System.out.println("September"); break; case 10: System.out.println("October"); break; case 11: System.out.println("November"); break; case 12: System.out.println("December"); break; default: System.out.println("Invalid month."); break; } } } Enter month's number: 5 May It looks better, doesn't it? Now, let's explore how it all works. Switch statementYou might have already guessed the syntax of the switch statement. Nevertheless let's check if you are right. The switch statement consists of following "bricks":
Which types for control variables are allowed?A switch works with int, char, byte and short primitive types, their non-primitive wrappers (Integer, Character, Byte and Short) and enumerated types (will be discussed later). So, basically, it works with integer numbers and characters only. You can't use strings and float numbers as control variables. Are ranges and enumerations allowed?Unfortunately not. Switch can make a decision based on a single value only. For instance, you can't tell case 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: but you can use "fall through" mechanism for small ranges or enumerations. Fall through featureRemember we told not to forget about break keyword to prevent execution of the next case? In special situations one can omit that recommendation. As an example we will create a program to tell number of days in a month by it's number (in non leap-year): import java.util.Scanner;
public class NumberOfDays { public static void main(String[] args) { Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.print("Enter month's number: "); int monthNumber; monthNumber = in.nextInt(); switch (monthNumber) { case 1: case 3: case 5: case 7: case 8: case 10: case 12: System.out.println("Number of days: 31"); break; case 4: case 6: case 9: case 11: System.out.println("Number of days: 30"); break; case 2: System.out.println("Number of days: 28"); break; default: System.out.println("Invalid month."); break;
} } } Enter month's number: 5 Number of days: 31 Be careful with this feature. If you use it in a real program, always add comments, so you and other people reading your code know, that you omitted break on purpose: case 9: // doing something... // fall through It's all we want to tell about the switch statement at the moment, but you will meet with it once more, when we'll discuss enumerations.
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