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Reference > Language > Structure > Control structure > Switchcase

switch...case

[Control Structure]

Description

Like if statements, switch case controls the flow of programs by allowing programmers to specify different code that should be executed in various conditions. In particular, a switch statement compares the value of a variable to the values specified in case statements. When a case statement is found whose value matches that of the variable, the code in that case statement is run.

The break keyword exits the switch statement, and is typically used at the end of each case. Without a break statement, the switch statement will continue executing the following expressions ("falling-through") until a break, or the end of the switch statement is reached.

Syntax

switch (var) {
  case label1:
    // statements
    break;
  case label2:
    // statements
    break;
  default:
    // statements
    break;
}

Parameters

var: an integer variable whose value to compare with various cases. Any integer data type is allowed*, such as byte, char, int, long. label1, label2: constants. Any integer data type here is also allowed.

*You can also use the bool data type when you specify just two switch cases.

Note that you can also use negative values as input.

Returns

Nothing

Example Code

switch (var) {
  case 1:
    // do something when var equals 1
    break;
  case 2:
    // do something when var equals 2
    break;
  default:
    // if nothing else matches, do the default
    // default is optional
    break;
}

See also