Programming in D – Tutorial and Reference
Ali Çehreli

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switch and case

switch is a statement that allows comparing the value of an expression against multiple values. It is similar to but not the same as an "if, else if, else" chain. case is used for specifying the values that are to be compared with switch's expression. case is a part of the switch statement, not a statement itself.

switch takes an expression within parentheses, compares the value of that expression to the case values, and executes the operations of the case that is equal to the value of the expression. Its syntax consists of a switch block that contains one or more case sections and a default section: 

    switch (expression) {

    case value_1:
        // operations to execute if the expression is equal to value_1
        // ...
        break;

    case value_2:
        // operations to execute if the expression is equal to value_2
        // ...
        break;

    // ... other cases ...

    default:
        // operations to execute if the expression is not equal to any case
        // ...
        break;
    }

The expression that switch takes is not used directly as a logical expression. It is not evaluated as "if this condition is true", as it would be in an if statement. The value of the switch expression is used in equality comparisons with the case values. It is similar to an "if, else if, else" chain that has only equality comparisons: 

    auto value = expression;

    if (value == value_1) {
        // operations for value_1
        // ...

    } else if (value == value_2) {
        // operations for value_2
        // ...
    }

    // ... other 'else if's ...

    } else {
        // operations for other values
        // ...
    }

However, the "if, else if, else" above is not an exact equivalent of the switch statement. The reasons why will be explained in the following sections.

If a case value matches the value of the switch expression, then the operations that are under the case are executed. If no value matches, then the operations that are under the default are executed.

The goto statement

The use of goto is generally advised against in most programming languages. However, goto is useful in switch statements in some situations, without being as problematic as in other uses. The goto statement will be covered in more detail in a later chapter.

case does not introduce a scope as the if statement does. Once the operations within an if or else scope are finished the evaluation of the entire if statement is also finished. That does not happen with the case sections; once a matching case is found, the execution of the program jumps to that case and executes the operations under it. When needed in rare situations, goto case makes the program execution jump to the next case: 

    switch (value) {

    case 5:
        writeln("five");
        goto case;    // continues to the next case

    case 4:
        writeln("four");
        break;

    default:
        writeln("unknown");
        break;
    }

If value is 5, the execution continues under the case 5 line and the program prints "five". Then the goto case statement causes the execution to continue to the next case, and as a result "four" is also printed: 

five
four

goto can appear in three ways under case sections:

The following program demonstrates these three uses by taking advantage of a foreach loop: 

import std.stdio;

void main() {
    foreach (value; [ 1, 2, 3, 10, 20 ]) {
        writefln("--- value: %s ---", value);

        switch (value) {

        case 1:
            writeln("case 1");
            goto case;

        case 2:
            writeln("case 2");
            goto case 10;

        case 3:
            writeln("case 3");
            goto default;

        case 10:
            writeln("case 10");
            break;

        default:
            writeln("default");
            break;
        }
    }
}

The output: 

--- value: 1 ---
case 1
case 2
case 10
--- value: 2 ---
case 2
case 10
--- value: 3 ---
case 3
default
--- value: 10 ---
case 10
--- value: 20 ---
default
The expression must be an integer, string, or bool type

Any type can be used in equality comparisons in if statements. On the other hand, the type of the switch expression is limited to all integer types, all string types, and bool. 

    string op = /* ... */;
    // ...
    switch (op) {

    case "add":
        result = first + second;
        break;

    case "subtract":
        result = first - second;
        break;

    case "multiply":
        result = first * second;
        break;

    case "divide":
        result = first / second;
        break;

    default:
        throw new Exception(format("Unknown operation: %s", op));
    }

Note: The code above throws an exception when the operation is not recognized by the program. We will see exceptions in a later chapter.

Although it is possible to use bool expressions as well, because bool has only two values it may be more suitable to use an if statement or the ternary operator (?:) with that type.

Value ranges

Ranges of values can be specified by .. between cases: 

    switch (dieValue) {

    case 1:
        writeln("You won");
        break;

    case 2: .. case 5:
        writeln("It's a draw");
        break;

    case 6:
        writeln("I won");
        break;

    default:
        /* The program should never get here because the cases
         * above cover the entire range of valid die values.
         * (See 'final switch' below.) */
        break;
    }

The code above determines that the game ends in a draw when the die value is 2, 3, 4, or 5.

Distinct values

Let's assume that it is a draw for the values 2 and 4, rather than for the values that are in the range [2, 5]. Distinct values of a case are separated by commas: 

    case 2, 4:
        writeln("It's a draw");
        break;
The final switch statement

The final switch statement works similarly to the regular switch statement, with the following differences: 

    int dieValue = 1;

    final switch (dieValue) {

    case 1:
        writeln("You won");
        break;

    case 2, 3, 4, 5:
        writeln("It's a draw");
        break;

    case 6:
        writeln("I won");
        break;
    }
When to use

switch is suitable for comparing the value of an expression against a set of values that are known at compile time.

When there are only two values to compare, an if statement may make more sense. For example, to check whether it is heads or tails: 

    if (headsTailsResult == heads) {
        // ...

    } else {
        // ...
    }

As a general rule, switch is more suitable when there are three or more values to compare.

When all of the values need to be handled, then prefer final switch. This is especially the case for enum types.

Exercises
  1. Write a calculator program that supports arithmetic operations. Have the program first read the operation as a string, then two values of type double from the input. The calculator should print the result of the operation. For example, when the operation and values are "add" and "5 7", respectively, the program should print 12.

    The input can be read as in the following code: 

        string op;
    double first;
    double second;

    // ...

    op = strip(readln());
    readf(" %s %s", &first, &second);
  2. Improve the calculator to support operators like "+" in addition to words like "add".
  3. Have the program throw an exception for unknown operators. We will cover exceptions in a later chapter. For now, adapt the throw statement used above to your program.

... the solutions