Which is more efficient, a switch statement or an if else chain?

Q

Which is more efficient, a switch statement or an if else chain?

✍: Guest

A

The differences, if any, are likely to be slight. The switch statement was designed to be efficiently implementable, though the compiler may choose to use the equivalent of an if/else chain (as opposed to a compact jump table) if the case labels are sparsely distributed.
Do use switch when you can: it's certainly cleaner, and perhaps more efficient (and certainly should never be any less efficient).

2015-02-04, 1167👍, 0💬