Question

So basically given the below code.

When action = 2; and mode = 1 Will i ever be set to 2?

I am working on a colleagues code, and it is written like this, but I thought that break would just skip the if and continue the rest of case 2. So basically the if statement is pointless.

switch(action){

   case 1: i = 1; break;

   case 2: if(mode == 1)
           {
              break;
           }

           i = 2;
           break;

   case 3: i = 3; break;

Ive rewritten this as:

 case 2: if(mode != 1)
            i = 2;
         break;

But it is not the only place, and some more complex. If im going to refactor it I need some info that I am correct.

Answer 1

JLS section 14.15:

A break statement transfers control out of an enclosing statement.

BreakStatement:

   break Identifieropt ;

A break statement with no label attempts to transfer control to the innermost enclosing switch, while, do, or for statement (emphasis added) of the immediately enclosing method or initializer block; this statement, which is called the break target, then immediately completes normally.