Explain modern switch block

[josealonso]

Explain modern switch block

Text added to the switch block concept, explaining the modern switch statement and the switch expression.

---

Reviewer Resources:

Track Policies

[josealonso]

I didn't want to include pattern matching. I think it's quite easy to read.
I welcome your feedback, @kahgoh @manumafe98

Thanks :)

[manumafe98]

Hey @josealonso Thanks for the contribution! You have to actually make the update here as you can see in the .docs directory we have a .md.tpl file that points to that one.

What i'm thinking is that the usage of switch would depend on what version of java the students use, makes sense to teach both the newer and older version but seems weird to called them like modern or older version, maybe specify in what versions of java the modern one can be applied and in which of them not?

[manumafe98]

Update the introduction in the correct file

[kahgoh]

I think it might be confusing to mention both versions of the switch statement in the instructions - are students expected to use the "old" or the "new" switch statements in the exercise? If we're adding to this exercise, I'd suggest we could add/update the exercise to practice both styles. Alternatively, we've already mention switch expressions in the about.md. The about.md is for adding extra information about the concepts after they finish the exercise (see about.md documentation).

Other than, I'd suggest using the terms "switch statement" and "switch expressions" as I believe they commonly used to distinguish between the two.

[josealonso]

Hey @josealonso Thanks for the contribution! You have to actually make the update here as you can see in the .docs directory we have a .md.tpl file that points to that one.

What i'm thinking is that the usage of switch would depend on what version of java the students use, makes sense to teach both the newer and older version but seems weird to called them like modern or older version, maybe specify in what versions of java the modern one can be applied and in which of them not?

Thanks @manumafe98. I'm sorry I didn't modify the correct document. Regarding the Java versions, that is explained in the text I wrote.

[josealonso]

I think it might be confusing to mention both versions of the switch statement in the instructions - are students expected to use the "old" or the "new" switch statements in the exercise? If we're adding to this exercise, I'd suggest we could add/update the exercise to practice both styles. Alternatively, we've already mention switch expressions in the about.md. The about.md is for adding extra information about the concepts after they finish the exercise (see about.md documentation).

Other than, I'd suggest using the terms "switch statement" and "switch expressions" as I believe they commonly used to distinguish between the two.

That's a good point. I didn't know that was possible, sorry. The best option would be to update the exercise to practice both styles, since the traditional switch block is probably the most common one. But that requires to use the Analyzer and I still have to look into that API.
So for the time being, I'll move the text I wrote to the about.md file.
The modern switch statement is not an expression, but it's different from the traditional switch block. In Java 17 the switch expression is in preview stage, I think.

Thanks for the feedback @kahgoh

[kahgoh]

So for the time being, I'll move the text I wrote to the about.md file.

That sounds okay to me.

In Java 17 the switch expression is in preview stage, I think.

Ah, I think I missed Patterns for Switch (JEP 441), which was added in Java 21. Switch expression came out of preview in Java 14 (according to this Wikipedia page).

[josealonso]

Many thanks for the link to the docs @kahgoh. I went trough several pages and I'm impressed it's so well-documented.

[josealonso]

Replaced by #2899 @kahgoh