switch Statement
A switch
statement is useful when you need to select one of several alternatives based on the value of an integer, a character, or a String
variable. The basic form of the switch
statement is this:
switch (expression)
{
case constant:
statements;
break;
[ case constant-2:
statements;
break; ] ...
[ default:
statements;
break; ] ...
}
The expression must evaluate to an int
, short
, byte
, or char
. It can’t be a long
or a floating-point type.
Each grouping of code lines that starts with the case
keyword and ends with a break
statement is a case group. You can code as many case
groups as you want or need. Each group begins with the word case
, followed by a constant (usually, a numeric, character, or string literal) and a colon. Then you code one or more statements that you want executed if the value of the switch
expression equals the constant. The last line of each case group is a break
statement, which causes the entire switch
statement to end.
The default
group, which is optional, is like a catch-all case group. Its statements are executed only if none of the previous case
constants matches the switch
expression.
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