THE JAVA SWITCH STATEMENT

Like the if-else statement, the switch statement introduces a “fork in the road” for the
program’s execution path. Unlike the if-else (1) the switch statement’s fork has many tines
and (2) these execution paths are not necessarily separate because the flow of execution can end
up moving through several of them.

Java Switch Statement Syntax

switch ( switch value ) switch ( switch value )
{ {
case constant value 1 : case constant value 1 :
statement group 1 statement group 1
case constant value 2 : case constant value 2 :
statement group 2 statement group 2
. . . . . .
} default :
statement below default statement group
}
statement below
switch value is a variable or expression that is evaluated at run-time. It must be of the data type
byte, short, int, long, char or, as of Java 7, String.

Each constant value must be determinable at compile time.1 Also, each must be of the same data
type as the switch value and no two of them can have the same value. It can be a literal, a
previously declared constant identifier or an expression involving literals and constant
identifiers.

1
See Programming 102 – Coding and Testing → Program Readability, p. 3.

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 Java Switch Statement Semantics
What the computer executes:

What is the switch value? 1

constant value 1
2
Execute statement group 1
constant value 2
Execute statement group 2
. . .
3
None of the above
Execute default statement group

Proceed to execute statement below

As illustrated in the picture, the computer begins execution of the switch statement by (1)
evaluating the switch value. The computer (2) branches to the statement group immediately
following the constant value that matches the switch value and (3) continues executing each
subsequent statement group. If no constant value matches the switch value then execution
branches to the default statement group, if there is one.

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Example
This code illustrates the semantics of the switch statement without a default part. The
switch statement takes an integer representing a month (1 for January, 2 for February, etc.) and
calculates the number of days in all the months prior to and including it.
1 int totalDays = 0;
2 switch ( month )
3 {
4 case 12:
5 totalDays += 31;
6 case 11:
7 totalDays += 30;
8 case 10:
9 totalDays += 31;
10 case 9:
11 totalDays += 30;
12 case 8:
13 totalDays += 31;
14 case 7:
15 totalDays += 31;
16 case 6:
17 totalDays += 30;
18 case 5:
19 totalDays += 31;
20 case 4:
21 totalDays += 30;
22 case 3:
23 totalDays += 31;
24 case 2:
25 totalDays += 28;
26 case 1:
27 totalDays += 31;
28 }
29 System.out.println( "days = " + totalDays );

If month is 4, the switch If month is 12, the switch If month is 13, the switch
executes lines 21-27. The executes lines 5-27. The skips everything. The output
output is: output is: is:
days = 120 days = 365 days = 0

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Example
This code illustrates the use of the break statement to insure that each statement group is
executed at most once. The switch statement takes a String object representing a student’s
grade and prints his or her award.

1 switch ( grade )
2 {
3 case "A+" :
4 System.out.println( "Highest honors" );
5 break;
6 case "A" :
7 case "A-":
8 System.out.println( "Honors" );
9 break;
10 case "B+":
11 case "B" :
12 System.out.println( "Favorable Mention" );
13 break;
14 }
15 . . .

If grade is A+, the switch If grade is A-, the switch If grade is B+, the switch
executes lines 4 and 5. Line 5 executes lines 8 and 9. Line 9 executes lines 12 and 13. Line
breaks to line 15. The output breaks to line 15. The output 13 breaks to line 15. The
is: is: output is:
Highest honors Honors Favorable Mention

In the example above, the break at line 13 is not necessary since (without it) line 15 is the next
to execute. A seasoned Java programmer includes it, anticipating that he or she may later add
additional cases to the switch statement.

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Example
This code illustrates the semantics of the switch statement with a default part. The switch
statement takes an integer representing a month (1 for January, 2 for February, etc.) and sets the
variable lastDate to its last date, following the old rhyme:

Thirty days hath September, April, June and November.

All the rest have 31, save February alone,
Which has 28 and, in leap year, 29.

1 switch ( month )
2 {
3 case 9:
4 case 4:
5 case 6:
6 case 11:
7 lastDate = 30;
8 break;
9 case 2:
10 if ( new GregorianCalendar( ).isLeapYear( year ) )
11 lastDate = 29;
12 else
13 lastDate = 28;
14 break;
15 default:
16 lastDate = 31;
17 break;
18 }
19 System.out.println( "last date = " + lastDate );

If month is 9, the code If month is 2, the code If month is 12, the code
executes lines 7, 8 and 19, executes lines 10, 11, 14 and executes lines 16, 17 and 19,
outputting: 19, outputting, if year is a outputting:
leap year:
last date = 30 last date = 29 last date = 31

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Beginner Errors on Switch Statements
A common beginner error is to forget to break out of a case; thus, executing all the subsequent
cases.

Example
The code segment below (incorrectly) attempts to simulate the toss of a coin by choosing 0 or 1
at random and setting coinToss to HEADS or TAILS, respectively. coinToss always comes
out TAILS. If 0 is chosen, lines 4 and 6 are executed. If 1 is chosen, line 6 is executed.

1 switch ( (int)(Math.random( )*2) )

2 {
3 case 0:
4 coinToss = "HEADS";
5 case 1:
6 coinToss = "TAILS";
7 }

Another common error is to try to switch on a variable that is not of the correct data type.

Example
For the code fragment below, the compiler issues the diagnostic:

MyApp.java:30: error: incompatible types

switch (success)
^
required: int
found: boolean

10 boolean success;
~ . . .
30 switch ( success )
31 {
~ . . .
44 }

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Exercises

For each code fragment below, give the output if the char variable letter has the value a. If
letter has the value b. If letter is c. If letter is d. If letter is e.

1. char letter;
. . .
int r = 0;
switch ( letter )
{
case 'a':
r += 1;
case 'b':
case 'c':
r += 2;
case 'd':
r += 3;
}
System.out.println( "r = " + r );

2. char letter;
. . .
int r = 0;
switch ( letter )
{
case 'a':
r += 1;
break;
case 'b':
case 'c':
r += 2;
break;
case 'd':
r += 3;
break;
}
System.out.println( "r = " + r );

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For each code fragment below, give the output if the char variable letter has the value a. If
letter has the value b. If letter is c. If letter is d. If letter is e.

3. char letter;
. . .
int r = 0;
switch ( letter )
{
case 'a':
r += 1;
break;
case 'b':
case 'c':
r += 2;
break;
case 'd':
r += 3;
break;
default:
r += 4;
break;
}
System.out.println( "r = " + r );

For each switch statement below, circle what’s wrong and explain. None of them is correct.

4. int code;
. . .
Switch ( code ) ;
{
Case 0:
msg = "System operating normally";
break;
Case 1:
msg = "System startup error";
break;
}

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For each switch statement below, circle what’s wrong and explain. None of them is correct.

5. short code;
. . .
switch ( code )
case 0
msg = "System operating normally";
break;
case 1
msg = "System startup error";
break;

6. final byte ON = 0;
final byte OFF = 1;
byte code;
. . .
switch code {
case ON:
msg = "System operating normally";
break;
case OFF:
msg = "System startup error";
break;
}

7. double code;
. . .
switch ( code ) {
case 0: msg = "System operating normally";
break;
case 1: msg = "System startup error";
break;
}

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For each switch statement below, circle what’s wrong and explain. None of them is correct.

8. int code, on, off;

. . .
switch ( code )
{
case on:
msg = "System operating normally";
break;
case off:
msg = "System startup error";
break;
}

9. Explain the logic error in this switch statement.

char code;
. . .
code = '1';
. . .
switch ( code )
{
case 0:
msg = "System operating normally";
break;
case 1:
msg = "System startup error";
break;
}

For each of the following write the Java code fragment that uses a switch statement to
accomplish the result.

10. Given an int variable day equal to 1 through 7, set a string variable to the name of the
weekday Sunday, Monday, etc.

11. Given the String variable day holding the name of the weekday Sunday, Monday, etc.,
set an int variable to 1, 2, etc.

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12. Randomly select an integer 0, 1, 2 or 3 and set a string variable to a card suit (Hearts,
Clubs, Spades or Diamonds) based on the random selection.

13. Given the String variable suit holding the name of a card suit (Hearts, Clubs, Spades
or Diamonds) set an int variable to 0, 1, 2 or 3 based on the selection.

14. Given the char variable letter, the int variable vowelCount and the int variable
consonantCount, increment vowelCount if letter contains a vowel and
consonantCount if letter contains a consonant.

15. Given an int variable month equal to 1, …, 12, set a string variable to the name of the
month January, February, etc.

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