Question

It is common for code to look like this:

if (variable == "value1") action1();
else if (variable == "value2") action2();
else if (variable == "value3") action3();
else defaultAction();

There is a construct called switch that is intended to solve such a “dispatch” in a more direct way. Unfortunately, the syntax JavaScript uses for this (which it inherited from the C/Java line of programming languages) is somewhat awkward—a chain of if statements often looks better. Here is an example:

switch (prompt("What is the weather like?")) {
  case "rainy":
    console.log("Remember to bring an umbrella.");
    break;
  case "sunny":
    console.log("Dress lightly.");
  case "cloudy":
    console.log("Go outside.");
    break;
  default:
    console.log("Unknown weather type!");
    break;
}

You may put any number of case labels inside the block opened by switch . The program will jump to the label that corresponds to the value that switch was given or to default if no matching value is found. It starts executing statements there, even if they’re under another label, until it reaches a break statement. In some cases, such as the "sunny" case in the example, this can be used to share some code between cases (it recommends going outside for both sunny and cloudy weather). But beware: it is easy to forget such a break , which will cause the program to execute code you do not want executed.

This is a book about getting computers to do what you want them to do. Computers are about as common as screwdrivers today, but they contain a lot more hidden complexity and thus are harder to operate and understand. To many, they remain alien, slightly threatening things.