Php Tutorial

Switch

If you have say, 200 conditions to check. Then you will have to go through a nasty long block of If/ElseIf/ElseIf/ElseIf/... statements.

PHP Switch statement could check all 200 conditions at once,

PHP Switch Statement Example

In this example the single variable will be $destination and the cases will be: Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Egypt, Tokyo, and the Caribbean Islands.

PHP Code:

$destination = "Tokyo";

switch ($destination)
{
     case "Las Vegas":
         echo "Prepare to lose money";
         break;
     case "Amsterdam":
         echo "Bring an open mind";
         break;
     case "Egypt":
         echo "Bring hats and umbrellas";
         break;
     case "Tokyo":
         echo "Bring lots of money";
         break;
     case "Caribbean Islands":
         echo "Bring a swimsuit";
         break;
}

Display:

Traveling to Tokyo
Bring lots of money

The value of $destination was Tokyo, so PHP search for a case with the value of "Tokyo".

Php found it and proceeded to execute the code that existed within that segment.

Noticed how each case contains a break; at the end of its code area. This break prevents the other cases from being executed.

Note: With no break statements then all the cases that follow Tokyo will be executed too.

PHP Switch Statement: Default Case

If there are no matched case the switch statement has the default case as a safety net.

A default case should be included in all your switch statements.

See the examle below.

PHP Code:

$destination = "New York";

switch ($destination)
{
     case "Las Vegas":
         echo "Prepare to lose money";
         break;
     case "Amsterdam":
         echo "Bring an open mind";
         break;
     case "Egypt":
         echo "Bring hats and umbrellas.";
         break;
    case "Tokyo":
         echo "Bring lots of money";
         break;
     case "Caribbean Islands":
         echo "Bring a swimsuit";
         break;
     default:
         // execute this if there are no matched case statement
         echo "Travelling to nowhere;
         echo "I wish you luck!";
         break;
}

Display:

Traveling to nowhere
I wish you luck!

Note
For more detail please see Php Manual at http://www.php.net

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