Which statement is true about the switch statement?

Question

Options

• AIts expression must evaluate to a single value.
• BIt must contain the default section.
• CThe break statement, at the end of each case block, is mandatory.
• DIts case label literals can be changed at runtime.

• A
  74% (25)
• B
  6% (2)
• C
  9% (3)
• D
  12% (4)

Explanation

Option A is correct because a switch statement evaluates its controlling expression to produce a single discrete value (an integer, character, string, or enum), which is then compared against each case label - it cannot branch on ranges, booleans, or complex conditions the way an if-else chain can.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• B - default is optional; if omitted and no case matches, execution simply falls through the entire switch block.
• C - break is optional, not mandatory. Without it, execution falls through to the next case, which is sometimes intentional (e.g., stacking cases that share logic).
• D - case labels must be compile-time constants (literals or final variables); they cannot be changed or computed at runtime.

Memory tip: Think of switch as a lookup table - it takes one key (the single value) and finds the matching row (case). A table lookup always needs exactly one key, keys are fixed at compile time, and you choose whether to stop at a row (break) or keep reading down (fall-through).

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