Switch statements

Coding with JavaScript

🕑 This lesson will take about 10 minutes

Switch statements are used to run different blocks of code based on different conditions. They are similar to ‘If’ statements but can be a little neater when working with many conditions. This video tutorial explains how to use switch statements in JavaScript.

Switch statements look like this:

switch(expression){
   case a:
       // code to run...
       break;
   case b:
       // code to run...
       break;
   default:
       // code to run...
}

Make sure you use the break statement at the end of each case so that the program does not continue running through the switch statement once a condition has been met. If you don’t use the break statement, the program will keep checking through all conditions even if a match has already been found. If none of the conditions are met, then you can use a default case which will run another block of code.

Watch the video below and then scroll down for the sample code:

Sample HTML and JavaScript code

Next lesson: While loops