Switch Statements & Expressions

Modern Java (14+) prefers the switch expression form — no break needed, and it can produce a value directly:

int day = 3;
String name = switch (day) {
    case 1 -> "Monday";
    case 2 -> "Tuesday";
    case 3 -> "Wednesday";
    default -> "Unknown";
};
System.out.println(name); // Wednesday

The older statement form still works, but requires an explicit break in each branch to avoid fall-through (execution continuing into the next case):

switch (day) {
    case 1:
        System.out.println("Monday");
        break;
    default:
        System.out.println("Unknown");
}

Common mistakes

• Forgetting break in the older statement form — execution falls through into the next case instead of stopping. The arrow-form -> avoids this entirely.