"Switch" statements provide multi-way execution. An expression or type is compared to the "cases" inside the "switch" to determine which branch to execute.
```
SwitchStmt = ExprSwitchStmt | TypeSwitchStmt .
```
There are two forms: expression switches and type switches. In an expression switch, the cases contain expressions that are compared against the value of the switch expression. In a type switch, the cases contain types that are compared against the type of a specially annotated switch expression. The switch expression is evaluated exactly once in a switch statement.
<b>Expression switches</b>
In an expression switch, the switch expression is evaluated and the case expressions, which need not be constants, are evaluated left-to-right and top-to-bottom; the first one that equals the switch expression triggers execution of the statements of the associated case; the other cases are skipped. If no case matches and there is a "default" case, its statements are executed. There can be at most one default case and it may appear anywhere in the "switch" statement. A missing switch expression is equivalent to the boolean value true.
```
ExprSwitchStmt = "switch" [ SimpleStmt ";" ] [ Expression ] "{" { ExprCaseClause } "}" .
ExprCaseClause = ExprSwitchCase ":" StatementList .
ExprSwitchCase = "case" ExpressionList | "default" .
```
If the switch expression evaluates to an untyped constant, it is first implicitly converted to its default type. The predeclared untyped value nil cannot be used as a switch expression. The switch expression type must be comparable.
If a case expression is untyped, it is first implicitly converted to the type of the switch expression. For each (possibly converted) case expression x and the value t of the switch expression, x == t must be a valid comparison.
In other words, the switch expression is treated as if it were used to declare and initialize a temporary variable t without explicit type; it is that value of t against which each case expression x is tested for equality.
In a case or default clause, the last non-empty statement may be a (possibly labeled) "fallthrough" statement to indicate that control should flow from the end of this clause to the first statement of the next clause. Otherwise control flows to the end of the "switch" statement. A "fallthrough" statement may appear as the last statement of all but the last clause of an expression switch.
The switch expression may be preceded by a simple statement, which executes before the expression is evaluated.
```
switch tag {
default: s3()
case 0, 1, 2, 3: s1()
case 4, 5, 6, 7: s2()
}
switch x := f(); { // missing switch expression means "true"
case x < 0: return -x
default: return x
}
switch {
case x < y: f1()
case x < z: f2()
case x == 4: f3()
}
```
Implementation restriction: A compiler may disallow multiple case expressions evaluating to the same constant. For instance, the current compilers disallow duplicate integer, floating point, or string constants in case expressions.
<b>Type switches</b>
A type switch compares types rather than values. It is otherwise similar to an expression switch. It is marked by a special switch expression that has the form of a type assertion using the keyword type rather than an actual type:
```
switch x.(type) {
// cases
}
```
Cases then match actual types T against the dynamic type of the expression x. As with type assertions, x must be of interface type, but not a type parameter, and each non-interface type T listed in a case must implement the type of x. The types listed in the cases of a type switch must all be different.
```
TypeSwitchStmt = "switch" [ SimpleStmt ";" ] TypeSwitchGuard "{" { TypeCaseClause } "}" .
TypeSwitchGuard = [ identifier ":=" ] PrimaryExpr "." "(" "type" ")" .
TypeCaseClause = TypeSwitchCase ":" StatementList .
TypeSwitchCase = "case" TypeList | "default" .
```
The TypeSwitchGuard may include a short variable declaration. When that form is used, the variable is declared at the end of the TypeSwitchCase in the implicit block of each clause. In clauses with a case listing exactly one type, the variable has that type; otherwise, the variable has the type of the expression in the TypeSwitchGuard.
Instead of a type, a case may use the predeclared identifier nil; that case is selected when the expression in the TypeSwitchGuard is a nil interface value. There may be at most one nil case.
Given an expression x of type interface{}, the following type switch:
```
switch i := x.(type) {
case nil:
printString("x is nil") // type of i is type of x (interface{})
case int:
printInt(i) // type of i is int
case float64:
printFloat64(i) // type of i is float64
case func(int) float64:
printFunction(i) // type of i is func(int) float64
case bool, string:
printString("type is bool or string") // type of i is type of x (interface{})
default:
printString("don't know the type") // type of i is type of x (interface{})
}
```
could be rewritten:
```
v := x // x is evaluated exactly once
if v == nil {
i := v // type of i is type of x (interface{})
printString("x is nil")
} else if i, isInt := v.(int); isInt {
printInt(i) // type of i is int
} else if i, isFloat64 := v.(float64); isFloat64 {
printFloat64(i) // type of i is float64
} else if i, isFunc := v.(func(int) float64); isFunc {
printFunction(i) // type of i is func(int) float64
} else {
_, isBool := v.(bool)
_, isString := v.(string)
if isBool || isString {
i := v // type of i is type of x (interface{})
printString("type is bool or string")
} else {
i := v // type of i is type of x (interface{})
printString("don't know the type")
}
}
```
A type parameter or a generic type may be used as a type in a case. If upon instantiation that type turns out to duplicate another entry in the switch, the first matching case is chosen.
```
func f[P any](x any) int {
switch x.(type) {
case P:
return 0
case string:
return 1
case []P:
return 2
case []byte:
return 3
default:
return 4
}
}
var v1 = f[string]("foo") // v1 == 0
var v2 = f[byte]([]byte{}) // v2 == 2
```
The type switch guard may be preceded by a simple statement, which executes before the guard is evaluated.
The "fallthrough" statement is not permitted in a type switch.