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Switch statement

Concepts:
switch and if statements, different ways to write and indent a program

Text:
Write a program using the if or the switch statement that, given in input a number, recognize the following commands:

Command Input Number
Down 2
Up 8
Left 4
Right 6

Solution:
A number of 5 equivalent solutions are reported in the following. Probably, the last one based on the switch statement, is the more readable.

Solution 1:
This solution is based on the if statement and on a flag variable cmd_executed used to specify if a command (i.e., 2, 4, 6, 8) has been correctly recognized.

switch_a.c
#include <stdio.h>
 
int main(){
  int cmd;
  int cmd_executed=0;
 
  printf("Insert a command: ");
  scanf("%d", &cmd);
 
  if(cmd==2){
    printf("Down\n");
    cmd_executed=1;
  }
  if(cmd==8){
    printf("Up\n");
    cmd_executed=1;
  }
  if(cmd==4){
    printf("Left\n");
    cmd_executed=1;
  }
  if(cmd==6){
    printf("Right\n");
    cmd_executed=1;
  }
  if(!cmd_executed){
    printf("ERROR: incorrect command!\n");
  }
 
  return 0;
}

Solution 2:
This solution is based only on the if statement, without the used of the flag variable

switch_b.c
#include <stdio.h>
 
int main(){
  int cmd;
 
  printf("Insert a command: ");
  scanf("%d", &cmd);
 
  if(cmd==2){
    printf("Up\n");
  }else{
    if(cmd==8){
      printf("Down\n");
    }else{
      if(cmd==4){
	printf("Left\n");
      }else{
	if(cmd==6){
	  printf("Right\n");
	}else{
	    printf("ERROR: incorrect command!\n");
	}
      }
    }
  }
 
  return 0;
}

Solution 3:
Same as Solution 2, but without braces in the if statement.

switch_c.c
#include <stdio.h>
 
int main(){
  int cmd;
 
  printf("Insert a command: ");
  scanf("%d", &cmd);
 
  if(cmd==2)
    printf("Down\n");
  else
    if(cmd==8)
      printf("Up\n");
    else
      if(cmd==4)
	printf("Left\n");
      else
	if(cmd==6)
	  printf("Right\n");
	else
	    printf("ERROR: incorrect command!\n");
 
  return 0;
}

Solution 4:
This solution is exactly equivalent to the one reported in Solution 3, only indentation changes

switch_d.c
#include <stdio.h>
 
int main(){
  int cmd;
 
  printf("Insert command: ");
  scanf("%d", &cmd);
 
  if(cmd==2)
    printf("Down\n");
  else if(cmd==8)
    printf("Up\n");
  else if(cmd==4)
    printf("Left\n");
  else if(cmd==6)
    printf("Right\n");
  else
    printf("ERROR: incorrect command!\n");
 
  return 0;
}

Solution 5:
Finally, this solution is based on the use of the switch statement

switch_e.c
#include <stdio.h>
 
int main(){
  int cmd;
 
  printf("Insert command: ");
  scanf("%d", &cmd);
 
  switch(cmd){
  case 2:
    printf("Down\n");
    break;
 
  case 8:
    printf("Up\n");
    break;
 
  case 4:
    printf("Left\n");
    break;
 
  case 6:
    printf("Right\n");
    break;
 
  default:
    printf("ERROR: incorrect command!\n");
  }
 
  return 0;
}

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