Java Illuminated, 5th Edition

5.11 The switch Statement

The switch statement can be used instead of an if/else if statement for selection when the condition consists of comparing the value of an expression to constant integers (byte, short, or int), characters (char), or Strings. The syntax of the switch statement is the following:

switch ( expression )
{
   case constant1:
         statement1;
         . . .

         break; // optional
   case constant2:
         statement1;
         . . .
         break; // optional
   . . .
   default:  // optional
         statement1;
         . . .
}

The expression is first evaluated, then its value is compared to the case constants in order. When a match is found, the statements under that case constant are executed in sequence. The execution of statements continues until either a break statement is encountered ...