Java switch : variable declaration and scope

Question

How does the Java compiler handle the following switch block ? What is the scope of the \'b\' variable ?

Note that the \'b\' variable is declared only in the first b

Answer 1

You can define the scope using {} around your case.

int a = 3;
switch( a ) {
case 0: {
    int b = 1;
    System.out.println("case 0: b = " + b);
    break;
}
case 1: {
    // the following line does not compile: b may not have been initialized
    // System.out.println("case 1 before: b = " + b);
    int b = 2;
    System.out.println("case 1 after: b = " + b);
    break;
}
default: {
    int b = 7;
    System.out.println("default: b = " + b);
}
}