Why does C++ require breaks in switch statements? [duplicate]

Answer 1

Yes, it is necessary to include a break or a return after every switch case. An example where it is usefull, that not every case has an automatical break, is when you get key-events and certain keys should do the same thing:

switch (current_key) 
{
  case KEY_W:
  case KEY_UP:
  case KEY_SPACE:
       player->jump();
       break;
  case KEY_S:
  case KEY_DOWN:
  case KEY_SHIFT:
       player->cover();
       break;
  default:
       //Do something
       break; 
}

and you may write a function for you code like this:

const char* make_x_to_string(int x)
{
   switch (x)
   {
    case 0:
      return "x is zero";
    case 1:
      return "x is one";
    default:
      return "x is neither zero or one";
   }
}

and then simply call

cout << make_x_to_string(0) << endl;

You don't need break there, because return exits the function.