The switch/case statement offers similar functionality to the if/elseif statement; however, it offers a more elegant solution and has capabilities beyond the if/elseif alternative.
A switch/case statement allows multiple comparisons of a varaible. For example, consider the following if statement:
if ($var == 1) {
echo "One";
} elseif ($var == 1) {
echo "Two";
} else {
echo "Other";
}
This is identical to the switch/case statement that follows:
switch ($var) {
case 1:
echo "One";
break;
case 2:
echo "Two";
break;
default:
echo "Other";
}
In this example, if $var is equal to 1, the first case statement will be true; and the associated code (echo “One”;) will be executed. The resulting output would be as follows:
One
If $var did not match 1 or 2, then the code in the default block would be executed just like the final else block in an if/elseif/else statement.
Switch/case statements differ from if/elseif statements primarily because of the break statement. Without the break statements in the previous example, a value of 1 for $var would match the first case block. Furthermore, every subsequent case block code would be executed until a break statement is encountered, whether or not $var matches the subsequent case statements. The resulting output would be as follows:
One
Two
Other
