Question

$bytes = 0;
switch($bytes){
    case $bytes == 0:
        echo 'Equal to 0.';
    break;
    case $bytes < 0:
        echo 'Less than 0.';
    break;
}

This outputs “Less than 0.”

Why?

Answer 1

switch statements don’t work like that. When checking each case, the value is compared to the case value (using ==).

So, PHP is doing:

• Does $bytes == ($bytes == 0)? Which is: $bytes == (true). This is false, so it’s skipped.
• Does $bytes == ($bytes < 0)? Which is: $bytes == (false). This is true, so it runs that block.

You need to use an if/else here.

$bytes = 0;
if($bytes == 0){
    echo 'Equal to 0.';
}
elseif($bytes < 0){
    echo 'Less than 0.';
}