Java switch statement: Constant expression required, but it IS constant

Question

So, I am working on this class that has a few static constants:

public abstract class Foo {
    ...
    public static final int BAR;
    public static final          


        

Answer 1

Below code is self-explanatory, We can use an enum with a switch case:

/**
 *
 */
enum ClassNames {
    STRING(String.class, String.class.getSimpleName()),
    BOOLEAN(Boolean.class, Boolean.class.getSimpleName()),
    INTEGER(Integer.class, Integer.class.getSimpleName()),
    LONG(Long.class, Long.class.getSimpleName());
    private Class typeName;
    private String simpleName;
    ClassNames(Class typeName, String simpleName){
        this.typeName = typeName;
        this.simpleName = simpleName;
    }
}

Based on the class values from the enum can be mapped:

 switch (ClassNames.valueOf(clazz.getSimpleName())) {
        case STRING:
            String castValue = (String) keyValue;
            break;
        case BOOLEAN:
            break;
        case Integer:
            break;
        case LONG:
            break;
        default:
            isValid = false;

    }

Hope it helps :)

Answer 2

I recommend you to use enums :)

Check this out:

public enum Foo 
{
    BAR("bar"),
    BAZ("baz"),
    BAM("bam");

    private final String description;

    private Foo(String description)
    {
        this.description = description;
    }

    public String getDescription()
    {
        return description;
    }
}

Then you can use it like this:

System.out.println(Foo.BAR.getDescription());

Answer 3

Because those are not compile time constants. Consider the following valid code:

public static final int BAR = new Random().nextInt();

You can only know the value of BAR in runtime.

Answer 4

You can use an enum like in this example:

public class MainClass {
enum Choice { Choice1, Choice2, Choice3 }
public static void main(String[] args) {
Choice ch = Choice.Choice1;

switch(ch) {
  case Choice1:
    System.out.println("Choice1 selected");
    break;
 case Choice2:
   System.out.println("Choice2 selected");
   break;
 case Choice3:
   System.out.println("Choice3 selected");
   break;
    }
  }
}

Source: Switch statement with enum

Answer 5

I recommend using the following way:

public enum Animal {
    DOG("dog"), TIGER("tiger"), LION("lion");
    private final String name;

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return this.name;
    }
}


public class DemoSwitchUsage {

     private String getAnimal(String name) {
         Animal animalName = Animal.valueOf(name);
         switch(animalName) {
         case DOG:
             // write the code required.
             break;
         case LION:
             // Write the code required.
             break;
         default:
             break;
         }
     }
}

Answer 6

Sometimes the switch variable can also make that error for example:

switch(view.getTag()) {//which is an Object type

   case 0://will give compiler error that says Constant expression required

   //...
}

To solve you should cast the variable to int(in this case). So:

switch((int)view.getTag()) {//will be int

   case 0: //No Error

   //...
}