Why can't variables be declared in a switch statement?

Question

I\'ve always wondered this - why can\'t you declare variables after a case label in a switch statement? In C++ you can declare variables pretty much anywhere (and declaring

Answer 1

New variables can be decalared only at block scope. You need to write something like this:

case VAL:  
  // This will work
  {
  int newVal = 42;  
  }
  break;

Of course, newVal only has scope within the braces...

Cheers, Ralph