freeCodeCamp Challenge Guide: Replacing If Else Chains with Switch

Guide
1

Replacing If Else Chains with Switch

Solutions

Solution 1 (Click to Show/Hide)

We need to change the chained if/else if statements into a switch statement.

Now, we need to comment (// - select all lines and ctrl+/) all chained if/else if statements:

//   if (val === "bob") {
//     answer = "Marley";
//   } else if (val === 42) {
//     answer = "The Answer";
//   } else if (val === 1) {
//     answer = "There is no #1";
//   } else if (val === 99) {
//     answer = "Missed me by this much!";
//   } else if (val === 7) {
//     answer = "Ate Nine";
//   }

Next, we need to create simple switch statement:

switch (val) {
}

and add in this switch statement case - for all if/else if statement (just copy it from our commented code above):

switch (val) {
  case "bob":
    answer = "Marley";
    break;
  case 42:
    answer = "The Answer";
    break;
  case 1:
    answer = "There is no #1";
    break;
  case 99:
    answer = "Missed me by this much!";
    break;
  case 7:
    answer = "Ate Nine";
    break;
}

Dont forget to use break in each case!
Now, we can delete commented code with if/else if statement above.

Here’s a full solution:

function chainToSwitch(val) {
  var answer = "";
  // Only change code below this line
  switch (val) {
    case "bob":
      answer = "Marley";
      break;
    case 42:
      answer = "The Answer";
      break;
    case 1:
      answer = "There is no #1";
      break;
    case 99:
      answer = "Missed me by this much!";
      break;
    case 7:
      answer = "Ate Nine";
      break;
  }
  // Only change code above this line
  return answer;
}
// Change this value to test
chainToSwitch(7);
27 Likes
2

Try this.

function chainToSwitch(val) {
var answer = “”;
// Only change code below this line
switch (val) {
case “bob”:
answer = “Marley”;
break;
case 42:
answer = “The Answer”;
break;
case 1:
answer = “There is no #1”;
break;
case 99:
answer = “Missed me by this much!”;
break;
case “John”:
answer = “”;
break;
case 156:
answer = “”;
break;
default:
answer = “Ate Nine”;
}

8 Likes
3

Make sure you make “case bob” a string, I spent minutes trying to figure out what was wrong with my code.

10 Likes
4

One tip:

At first I commented out the original statement given. One thing I notice is that there should really by no Else / If / Else on the editor. Even though those expressions are commented out.

  **if** (val === "bob") {
    answer = "Marley";
  } **else if** (val === 42) {
    answer = "The Answer";
  } **else if** (val === 1) {
    answer = "There is no #1";
  } **else if** (val === 99) {
    answer = "Missed me by this much!";
  } **else if** (val === 7) {
    answer = "Ate Nine";
  }

Review: https://www.freecodecamp.com/challenges/selecting-from-many-options-with-switch-statements

2 Likes
5

Try this. It applied for me.

function chainToSwitch(val) {
var answer = “”;
// Only change code below this line

switch(val){
case “bob”:
answer = “Marley”;
break;
case 42:
answer = “The Answer”;
break;
case 1:
answer = “There is no #1”;
break;
case 99:
answer = “Missed me by this much!”;
break;
case “John”:
answer = “”;
break;
case 156:
answer = “”;
break;
case 7:
answer = “Ate Nine”;
break;
}

// Only change code above this line
return answer;
}

// Change this value to test
chainToSwitch(7);

4 Likes