Switch vs if comparison in Java - Hands-On Comparison

Switch vs if comparison

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are building a simple program that tells the day of the week based on a number. You want to see how to use both switch and if statements to do this.

🎯 Goal: You will create a program that uses both switch and if to print the day name for a given number from 1 to 7.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an integer variable called dayNumber with a value from 1 to 7

Create a switch statement that prints the day name for dayNumber

Create an if-else statement that prints the day name for dayNumber

Print the results of both switch and if-else statements

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Programs often need to choose actions based on a value, like days of the week, menu options, or commands.

💼 Career

Understanding <code>switch</code> and <code>if-else</code> helps you write clear and efficient code for decision making in many software jobs.

1

Create the dayNumber variable

Create an integer variable called dayNumber and set it to 3.

Java

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use int dayNumber = 3; inside the main method.

2

Add a switch statement for dayNumber

Add a switch statement using dayNumber that prints the day name for numbers 1 to 7. Use System.out.println inside each case. For example, case 1 prints "Monday". Include a default case that prints "Invalid day".

Java

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int dayNumber = 3;
        // Add switch statement here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use switch (dayNumber) { case 1: ... } and print the day names with System.out.println.

3

Add an if-else statement for dayNumber

Add an if-else statement using dayNumber that prints the day name for numbers 1 to 7. Use System.out.println inside each condition. For example, if dayNumber == 1, print "Monday". Include an else that prints "Invalid day".

Java

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int dayNumber = 3;
        switch (dayNumber) {
            // switch cases here
        }
        // Add if-else statement here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use if (dayNumber == 1) { ... } else if (...) { ... } else { ... } and print day names.

4

Print the results of both switch and if-else

Run the program and observe the output. The program should print the day name twice: once from the switch statement and once from the if-else statement. The output should be exactly two lines with the day name "Wednesday".

Java

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int dayNumber = 3;
        switch (dayNumber) {
            // switch cases here
        }
        if (dayNumber == 1) {
            // if-else here
        }
        // Run and observe output
    }
}

Need a hint?

Run the program. It should print "Wednesday" two times, once from switch and once from if-else.