Java Language Tutorial => Pitfall - Missing a ‘break’ in a 'switch'...

Example

These Java issues can be very embarrassing, and sometimes remain undiscovered until run in production. Fallthrough behavior in switch statements is often useful; however, missing a “break” keyword when such behavior is not desired can lead to disastrous results. If you have forgotten to put a “break” in “case 0” in the code example below, the program will write “Zero” followed by “One”, since the control flow inside here will go through the entire “switch” statement until it reaches a “break”. For example:

public static void switchCasePrimer() {
        int caseIndex = 0;
        switch (caseIndex) {
            case 0:
                System.out.println("Zero");
            case 1:
                System.out.println("One");
                break;
            case 2:
                System.out.println("Two");
                break;
            default:
                System.out.println("Default");
        }
}

In most cases, the cleaner solution would be to use interfaces and move code with specific behaviour into separate implementations (composition over inheritance)

If a switch-statement is unavoidable it is recommended to document "expected" fallthroughs if they occur. That way you show fellow developers that you are aware of the missing break, and that this is expected behaviour.

switch(caseIndex) {
    [...]
    case 2:
        System.out.println("Two");
        // fallthrough
    default:
        System.out.println("Default");

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Java Language Java Pitfalls - Language syntax Pitfall - Missing a ‘break’ in a 'switch' case

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