Why can't I use switch statement on a String?

Question

Is this functionality going to be put into a later Java version?

Can someone explain why I can't do this, as in, the technical way Java's switch statement works?

Answer 1

If you are not using JDK7 or higher, you can use hashCode() to simulate it. Because String.hashCode() usually returns different values for different strings and always returns equal values for equal strings, it is fairly reliable (Different strings can produce the same hash code as @Lii mentioned in a comment, such as "FB" and "Ea") See documentation.

So, the code would look like this:

String s = "<Your String>";

switch(s.hashCode()) {
case "Hello".hashCode(): break;
case "Goodbye".hashCode(): break;
}

That way, you are technically switching on an int.

Alternatively, you could use the following code:

public final class Switch<T> {
    private final HashMap<T, Runnable> cases = new HashMap<T, Runnable>(0);

    public void addCase(T object, Runnable action) {
        this.cases.put(object, action);
    }

    public void SWITCH(T object) {
        for (T t : this.cases.keySet()) {
            if (object.equals(t)) { // This means that the class works with any object!
                this.cases.get(t).run();
                break;
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

Beside the above good arguments, I will add that lot of people today see switch as an obsolete remainder of procedural past of Java (back to C times).

I don't fully share this opinion, I think switch can have its usefulness in some cases, at least because of its speed, and anyway it is better than some series of cascading numerical else if I saw in some code...

But indeed, it is worth looking at the case where you need a switch, and see if it cannot be replaced by something more OO. For example enums in Java 1.5+, perhaps HashTable or some other collection (sometime I regret we don't have (anonymous) functions as first class citizen, as in Lua — which doesn't have switch — or JavaScript) or even polymorphism.