THINK++ — Engineering Visualized

Multi-way Select

The switch Statement

Selects one of many code blocks based on the value of an expression. Cleaner than long else-if chains for discrete values.

SYNTAX

switch (expression) {
    case value1:
        // code
        break;
    case value2:
        // code
        break;
    default:
        // fallback
}

Day of Week Example

switch (day) {
    case 1: cout << "Mon"; break;
    case 2: cout << "Tue"; break;
    case 3: cout << "Wed"; break;
    default: cout << "Other";
}

⚠ BREAK IS REQUIRED

Without break, execution falls through to the next case. This is a common bug source.

VALID TYPES

Switch works with int, char, and enum. It does NOT work with strings or floats.

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Switch Statement

Switch Statement

The switch Statement

The switch Statement