Menu
×
   ❮     
HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C C++ C# BOOTSTRAP REACT MYSQL JQUERY EXCEL XML DJANGO NUMPY PANDAS NODEJS R TYPESCRIPT ANGULAR GIT POSTGRESQL MONGODB ASP AI GO KOTLIN SASS VUE DSA GEN AI SCIPY AWS CYBERSECURITY DATA SCIENCE
     ❯   

JS Tutorial

JS HOME JS Introduction JS Where To JS Output JS Statements JS Syntax JS Comments JS Variables JS Let JS Const JS Operators JS Arithmetic JS Assignment JS Data Types JS Functions JS Objects JS Object Properties JS Object Methods JS Object Display JS Object Constructors JS Events JS Strings JS String Methods JS String Search JS String Templates JS Numbers JS BigInt JS Number Methods JS Number Properties JS Arrays JS Array Methods JS Array Search JS Array Sort JS Array Iteration JS Array Const JS Dates JS Date Formats JS Date Get Methods JS Date Set Methods JS Math JS Random JS Booleans JS Comparisons JS If Else JS Switch JS Loop For JS Loop For In JS Loop For Of JS Loop While JS Break JS Iterables JS Sets JS Set Methods JS Maps JS Map Methods JS Typeof JS Type Conversion JS Destructuring JS Bitwise JS RegExp JS Precedence JS Errors JS Scope JS Hoisting JS Strict Mode JS this Keyword JS Arrow Function JS Classes JS Modules JS JSON JS Debugging JS Style Guide JS Best Practices JS Mistakes JS Performance JS Reserved Words

JS Versions

JS Versions JS 2009 (ES5) JS 2015 (ES6) JS 2016 JS 2017 JS 2018 JS 2019 JS 2020 JS 2021 JS 2022 JS 2023 JS 2024 JS IE / Edge JS History

JS Objects

Object Definitions Object Prototypes Object Methods Object Properties Object Get / Set Object Protection

JS Functions

Function Definitions Function Parameters Function Invocation Function Call Function Apply Function Bind Function Closures

JS Classes

Class Intro Class Inheritance Class Static

JS Async

JS Callbacks JS Asynchronous JS Promises JS Async/Await

JS HTML DOM

DOM Intro DOM Methods DOM Document DOM Elements DOM HTML DOM Forms DOM CSS DOM Animations DOM Events DOM Event Listener DOM Navigation DOM Nodes DOM Collections DOM Node Lists

JS Browser BOM

JS Window JS Screen JS Location JS History JS Navigator JS Popup Alert JS Timing JS Cookies

JS Web APIs

Web API Intro Web Forms API Web History API Web Storage API Web Worker API Web Fetch API Web Geolocation API

JS AJAX

AJAX Intro AJAX XMLHttp AJAX Request AJAX Response AJAX XML File AJAX PHP AJAX ASP AJAX Database AJAX Applications AJAX Examples

JS JSON

JSON Intro JSON Syntax JSON vs XML JSON Data Types JSON Parse JSON Stringify JSON Objects JSON Arrays JSON Server JSON PHP JSON HTML JSON JSONP

JS vs jQuery

jQuery Selectors jQuery HTML jQuery CSS jQuery DOM

JS Graphics

JS Graphics JS Canvas JS Plotly JS Chart.js JS Google Chart JS D3.js

JS Examples

JS Examples JS HTML DOM JS HTML Input JS HTML Objects JS HTML Events JS Browser JS Editor JS Exercises JS Quiz JS Website JS Interview Prep JS Bootcamp JS Certificate

JS References

JavaScript Objects HTML DOM Objects


JavaScript Switch Statement


The switch statement is used to perform different actions based on different conditions.


The JavaScript Switch Statement

Use the switch statement to select one of many code blocks to be executed.

Syntax

switch(expression) {
  case x:
    // code block
    break;
  case y:
    // code block
    break;
  default:
    // code block
}

This is how it works:

  • The switch expression is evaluated once.
  • The value of the expression is compared with the values of each case.
  • If there is a match, the associated block of code is executed.
  • If there is no match, the default code block is executed.

Example

The getDay() method returns the weekday as a number between 0 and 6.

(Sunday=0, Monday=1, Tuesday=2 ..)

This example uses the weekday number to calculate the weekday name:

switch (new Date().getDay()) {
  case 0:
    day = "Sunday";
    break;
  case 1:
    day = "Monday";
    break;
  case 2:
     day = "Tuesday";
    break;
  case 3:
    day = "Wednesday";
    break;
  case 4:
    day = "Thursday";
    break;
  case 5:
    day = "Friday";
    break;
  case 6:
    day = "Saturday";
}

The result of day will be:

Try it Yourself »


The break Keyword

When JavaScript reaches a break keyword, it breaks out of the switch block.

This will stop the execution inside the switch block.

It is not necessary to break the last case in a switch block. The block breaks (ends) there anyway.

Note: If you omit the break statement, the next case will be executed even if the evaluation does not match the case.


The default Keyword

The default keyword specifies the code to run if there is no case match:

Example

The getDay() method returns the weekday as a number between 0 and 6.

If today is neither Saturday (6) nor Sunday (0), write a default message:

switch (new Date().getDay()) {
  case 6:
    text = "Today is Saturday";
    break;
  case 0:
    text = "Today is Sunday";
    break;
  default:
    text = "Looking forward to the Weekend";
}

The result of text will be:

Try it Yourself »

The default case does not have to be the last case in a switch block:

Example

switch (new Date().getDay()) {
  default:
    text = "Looking forward to the Weekend";
    break;
  case 6:
    text = "Today is Saturday";
    break;
  case 0:
    text = "Today is Sunday";
}
Try it Yourself »

If default is not the last case in the switch block, remember to end the default case with a break.


Common Code Blocks

Sometimes you will want different switch cases to use the same code.

In this example case 4 and 5 share the same code block, and 0 and 6 share another code block:

Example

switch (new Date().getDay()) {
  case 4:
  case 5:
    text = "Soon it is Weekend";
    break;
  case 0:
  case 6:
    text = "It is Weekend";
    break;
  default:
    text = "Looking forward to the Weekend";
}
Try it Yourself »

Switching Details

If multiple cases matches a case value, the first case is selected.

If no matching cases are found, the program continues to the default label.

If no default label is found, the program continues to the statement(s) after the switch.


Strict Comparison

Switch cases use strict comparison (===).

The values must be of the same type to match.

A strict comparison can only be true if the operands are of the same type.

In this example there will be no match for x:

Example

let x = "0";
switch (x) {
  case 0:
    text = "Off";
    break;
  case 1:
    text = "On";
    break;
  default:
    text = "No value found";
}
Try it Yourself »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Create a switch statement that will alert "Hello" if fruits is "banana", and "Welcome" if fruits is "apple".

(fruits) {
  "Banana":
    alert("Hello")
    break;
  "Apple":
    alert("Welcome")
    break;    
}

Start the Exercise


×

Contact Sales

If you want to use W3Schools services as an educational institution, team or enterprise, send us an e-mail:
sales@w3schools.com

Report Error

If you want to report an error, or if you want to make a suggestion, send us an e-mail:
help@w3schools.com

W3Schools is optimized for learning and training. Examples might be simplified to improve reading and learning. Tutorials, references, and examples are constantly reviewed to avoid errors, but we cannot warrant full correctness of all content. While using W3Schools, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use, cookie and privacy policy.

Copyright 1999-2024 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved. W3Schools is Powered by W3.CSS.