New Java 7 Feature: String in Switch support

New Java 7 Feature: String in Switch support

One of the new features added in Java 7 is the capability to switch on a String.

With Java 6, or less

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1. String color = "red";  
2.   
3. if (color.equals("red")) {  
4.   System.out.println("Color is Red");  
5. } else if (color.equals("green")) {  
6.   System.out.println("Color is Green");  
7. } else {  
8.   System.out.println("Color not found");  
9. }  

With Java 7:

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1. String color = "red";  
2.   
3. switch (color) {  
4. case "red":  
5.   System.out.println("Color is Red");  
6.   break;  
7. case "green":  
8.   System.out.println("Color is Green");  
9.   break;  
10. default:  
11.   System.out.println("Color not found");  
12. }  

Conclusion

The switch statement when used with a String uses the equals() method to compare the given expression to each value in the case statement and is therefore case-sensitive and will throw a NullPointerException if the expression is null. It is a small but useful feature which not only helps us write more readable code but the compiler will likely generate more efficient bytecode as compared to the if-then-else statement.

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this article is from  http://www.vineetmanohar.com/2011/03/new-java-7-feature-string-in-switch-support/