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JavaScript JavaScript Basics (Retired) Making Decisions with Conditional Statements Programming Multiple Outcomes

Posted by Joseph Carrillo
Joseph Carrillo
2,137 Points

Programming Multiple Outcomes

Wouldn't a switch statement be better than using a if else/if else structure?

1 Answer

Lars Reimann
Lars Reimann
11,816 Points
Lars Reimann
Lars Reimann
11,816 Points

It depends on the situation. If you branch based on the exact value of a variable, you might want to use a switch:

switch (eventType) {
case 'click':
    console.log('You clicked something...');
    break;
case 'keydown':
    console.log('You typed something...');
    break;
default:
    console.log('I don\'t know what you just did, but it\'s cool...');
    break;
}

Here is an equivalent if-statement:

if (eventType === 'click') {
    console.log('You clicked something...');
} else if (eventType === 'keydown') {
    console.log('You typed something...');
} else {
    console.log('I don\'t know what you just did, but it\'s cool...');
}

The if-version might be shorter, but I still find the switch-statement easier to understand, because it better conveys the intention of the programmer.

Now, if the conditions in your if-statement don't have the structure varName === literal, you should not use a switch. By the way, by literal I mean fixed numbers, strings and so on. Another variable would not be a literal. Here is an example:

if (number < 42) {
    console.log('Think bigger!');
} else if (number > 42) {
    console.log('That\'s too big!');
} else {
    console.log('Just about right.');
}

The equivalent switch-statement is rather weird. Note that we are not switching on a variable anymore and that instead the case-conditions include variables:

switch (true) {
case number < 42:
    console.log('Think bigger!');
    break;
case number > 42:
    console.log('That\'s too big!');
    break;
default:
    console.log('Just about right.');
    break;
}