The switch and if-else both are selection statements, and they both let you select an alternative out of the given many alternatives by testing an expression. However, there are some differences in their operations. These are given below:
| switch | if-else |
| the switch can only test for equality | if can evaluate a relational or logical expression i.e, multiple conditions. |
| switch statement selects its branches by testing the value of the same variable. | if-else construction lets you use a series of expressions that may involve unrelated variables and complex expressions. |
| switch case label must be a single a value. | if-else is more versatile(it can handle ranges) |
| the switch cannot handle floating-point tests. The case labels of the switch must be an integer byte, short, int, or char. | if-else can handle floating-point tests also apart from handling integer and character tests. |
| switch case label must be a constant. | if-else can compare two or more variables. |
| the switch is more efficient. | if-else is less efficient in comparison to the switch statement. |
Important things to know about switch:
- A switch statement can not work for non-equality comparison.
- The case labels of switch statements must be literals or constants.
- No two case labels in the same switch can have identical values. But, in the case of nested switch statements the case constants of the inner and outer switch can contain common values.
- switch statement works with integral types(byte, short, int, long) and char only.
- The switch statement is more efficient than if in a situation that supports the nature of the switch operation.
Note: also read about the switch Statement
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