Show students what code looks like with and without switch statements to motivate the reasons for using them.

  • Comparing code, like the examples listed below, can help:

    • students understand switch statements by mapping the code with them back to code without them.

    • motivate switch statements by helping students see how they make code easier to understand.

  • Code Comparison Examples:

    • Example code with switch statements:

      // EXAMPLE of SWITCH FROM: // http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/switch.html public class SwitchDemo {     public static void main(String[] args) {         int month = 8;         String monthString;         switch (month) {             case 1: monthString = "January";                 break;             case 2: monthString = "February";                 break;             case 3: monthString = "March";                 break;             case 4: monthString = "April";                 break;             case 5: monthString = "May";                 break;             case 6: monthString = "June";                 break;             case 7: monthString = "July";                 break;             case 8: monthString = "August";                 break;             case 9: monthString = "September";                 break;             case 10: monthString = "October";                 break;             case 11: monthString = "November";                 break;             case 12: monthString = "December";                 break;             default: monthString = "Invalid month";                 break;         }         System.out.println(monthString);     } }
    • Example code without switch statements:

      // Example of IF: public class IfDemo {     public static void main(String[] args) {         int month = 8;         String monthString;         if (month == 1){             monthString = "January";         }         else if (month == 2){             monthString = "February";         }         else if (month == 3){             monthString = "March";         }         else if (month == 4){             monthString = "April";         }         else if (month == 5){             monthString = "May";         }         else if (month == 6){             monthString = "June";         }         else if (month == 7){             monthString = "July";         }         else if (month == 8){             monthString = "August";         }         else if (month == 9){             monthString = "September";         }         else if (month == 10){             monthString = "October";         }         else if (month == 11){             monthString = "November";         }         else { //NOTE: if (month == 12){             monthString = "December";         }         System.out.println(monthString);     } }

More about this tip

External Source
Interview with Samar Swaid.