Switch
Switch [expr,form1,value1,form2,value2,…]
evaluates expr, then compares it with each of the formi in turn, evaluating and returning the valuei corresponding to the first match found.
Details
- Only the valuei corresponding to the first formi that matches expr is evaluated. Each formi is evaluated only when the match is tried.
- If the last formi is the pattern _, then the corresponding valuei is always returned if this case is reached.
- If none of the formi match expr, the Switch is returned unevaluated.
- Switch has attribute HoldRest .
- You can use Break , Return , and Throw in Switch .
Examples
Basic Examples (2)
Process Boolean value to 1 or 0, giving a message and defaulting to 0 when not Boolean:
Give a suggested symbolic transformation for an expression:
Try the transformation:
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
Introduced in 1988 (1.0)
Text
Wolfram Research (1988), Switch, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Switch.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 1988. "Switch." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Switch.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (1988). Switch. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Switch.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_switch, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Switch}", year="1988", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Switch.html}", note=[Accessed: 11-April-2025 ]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_switch, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Switch}, year={1988}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Switch.html}, note=[Accessed: 11-April-2025 ]}