Java: An Introduction to Problem Solving and Programming, 8th Edition

3.3 The switch Statement

Determine on some course, more than a wild exposure to each chance that starts i' the way before thee.

—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Coriolanus (1609)

When a multiway if-else statement has many possible outcomes, it can be hard to read. If the choice is based on the value of an integer or character expression, the switch statement can make your code easier to understand.

The switch statement offers a choice of actions according to the value of a controlling expression

The switch statement begins with the keyword switch followed by a controlling expression in parentheses:

switch (Controlling_Expression)
{
. . .
}

The body of the statement is always enclosed in a pair of braces. Listing 3.5 shows a sample switch statement, whose ...