switch

test_switch.zig

const std = @import("std");
const builtin = @import("builtin");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
test "switch simple" {
    const a: u64 = 10;
    const zz: u64 = 103;
    // All branches of a switch expression must be able to be coerced to a
    // common type.
    //
    // Branches cannot fallthrough. If fallthrough behavior is desired, combine
    // the cases and use an if.
    const b = switch (a) {
        // Multiple cases can be combined via a ','
        1, 2, 3 => 0,
        // Ranges can be specified using the ... syntax. These are inclusive
        // of both ends.
        5...100 => 1,
        // Branches can be arbitrarily complex.
        101 => blk: {
            const c: u64 = 5;
            break :blk c * 2 + 1;
        },
        // Switching on arbitrary expressions is allowed as long as the
        // expression is known at compile-time.
        zz => zz,
        blk: {
            const d: u32 = 5;
            const e: u32 = 100;
            break :blk d + e;
        } => 107,
        // The else branch catches everything not already captured.
        // Else branches are mandatory unless the entire range of values
        // is handled.
        else => 9,
    };
    try expect(b == 1);
}
// Switch expressions can be used outside a function:
const os_msg = switch (builtin.target.os.tag) {
    .linux => "we found a linux user",
    else => "not a linux user",
};
// Inside a function, switch statements implicitly are compile-time
// evaluated if the target expression is compile-time known.
test "switch inside function" {
    switch (builtin.target.os.tag) {
        .fuchsia => {
            // On an OS other than fuchsia, block is not even analyzed,
            // so this compile error is not triggered.
            // On fuchsia this compile error would be triggered.
            @compileError("fuchsia not supported");
        },
        else => {},
    }
}

Shell

$ zig test test_switch.zig
1/2 test_switch.test.switch simple... OK
2/2 test_switch.test.switch inside function... OK
All 2 tests passed.

switch can be used to capture the field values of a Tagged union. Modifications to the field values can be done by placing a * before the capture variable name, turning it into a pointer.

test_switch_tagged_union.zig

const expect = @import("std").testing.expect;
test "switch on tagged union" {
    const Point = struct {
        x: u8,
        y: u8,
    };
    const Item = union(enum) {
        a: u32,
        c: Point,
        d,
        e: u32,
    };
    var a = Item{ .c = Point{ .x = 1, .y = 2 } };
    // Switching on more complex enums is allowed.
    const b = switch (a) {
        // A capture group is allowed on a match, and will return the enum
        // value matched. If the payload types of both cases are the same
        // they can be put into the same switch prong.
        Item.a, Item.e => |item| item,
        // A reference to the matched value can be obtained using `*` syntax.
        Item.c => |*item| blk: {
            item.*.x += 1;
            break :blk 6;
        },
        // No else is required if the types cases was exhaustively handled
        Item.d => 8,
    };
    try expect(b == 6);
    try expect(a.c.x == 2);
}

Shell

$ zig test test_switch_tagged_union.zig
1/1 test_switch_tagged_union.test.switch on tagged union... OK
All 1 tests passed.

See also:

• comptime
• enum
• @compileError
• Compile Variables

Exhaustive Switching

When a switch expression does not have an else clause, it must exhaustively list all the possible values. Failure to do so is a compile error:

test_unhandled_enumeration_value.zig

const Color = enum {
    auto,
    off,
    on,
};
test "exhaustive switching" {
    const color = Color.off;
    switch (color) {
        Color.auto => {},
        Color.on => {},
    }
}

Shell

$ zig test test_unhandled_enumeration_value.zig
docgen_tmp/test_unhandled_enumeration_value.zig:9:5: error: switch must handle all possibilities
    switch (color) {
    ^~~~~~
docgen_tmp/test_unhandled_enumeration_value.zig:3:5: note: unhandled enumeration value: 'off'
    off,
    ^~~
docgen_tmp/test_unhandled_enumeration_value.zig:1:15: note: enum 'test_unhandled_enumeration_value.Color' declared here
const Color = enum {
              ^~~~

Switching with Enum Literals

Enum Literals can be useful to use with switch to avoid repetitively specifying enum or union types:

test_exhaustive_switch.zig

const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const Color = enum {
    auto,
    off,
    on,
};
test "enum literals with switch" {
    const color = Color.off;
    const result = switch (color) {
        .auto => false,
        .on => false,
        .off => true,
    };
    try expect(result);
}

Shell

$ zig test test_exhaustive_switch.zig
1/1 test_exhaustive_switch.test.enum literals with switch... OK
All 1 tests passed.

Inline Switch Prongs

Switch prongs can be marked as inline to generate the prong’s body for each possible value it could have, making the captured value comptime.

test_inline_switch.zig

const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const expectError = std.testing.expectError;
fn isFieldOptional(comptime T: type, field_index: usize) !bool {
    const fields = @typeInfo(T).Struct.fields;
    return switch (field_index) {
        // This prong is analyzed twice with `idx` being a
        // comptime-known value each time.
        inline 0, 1 => |idx| @typeInfo(fields[idx].type) == .Optional,
        else => return error.IndexOutOfBounds,
    };
}
const Struct1 = struct { a: u32, b: ?u32 };
test "using @typeInfo with runtime values" {
    var index: usize = 0;
    try expect(!try isFieldOptional(Struct1, index));
    index += 1;
    try expect(try isFieldOptional(Struct1, index));
    index += 1;
    try expectError(error.IndexOutOfBounds, isFieldOptional(Struct1, index));
}
// Calls to `isFieldOptional` on `Struct1` get unrolled to an equivalent
// of this function:
fn isFieldOptionalUnrolled(field_index: usize) !bool {
    return switch (field_index) {
        0 => false,
        1 => true,
        else => return error.IndexOutOfBounds,
    };
}

Shell

$ zig test test_inline_switch.zig
1/1 test_inline_switch.test.using @typeInfo with runtime values... OK
All 1 tests passed.

The inline keyword may also be combined with ranges:

inline_prong_range.zig

fn isFieldOptional(comptime T: type, field_index: usize) !bool {
    const fields = @typeInfo(T).Struct.fields;
    return switch (field_index) {
        inline 0...fields.len - 1 => |idx| @typeInfo(fields[idx].type) == .Optional,
        else => return error.IndexOutOfBounds,
    };
}

inline else prongs can be used as a type safe alternative to inline for loops:

test_inline_else.zig

const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const SliceTypeA = extern struct {
    len: usize,
    ptr: [*]u32,
};
const SliceTypeB = extern struct {
    ptr: [*]SliceTypeA,
    len: usize,
};
const AnySlice = union(enum) {
    a: SliceTypeA,
    b: SliceTypeB,
    c: []const u8,
    d: []AnySlice,
};
fn withFor(any: AnySlice) usize {
    const Tag = @typeInfo(AnySlice).Union.tag_type.?;
    inline for (@typeInfo(Tag).Enum.fields) |field| {
        // With `inline for` the function gets generated as
        // a series of `if` statements relying on the optimizer
        // to convert it to a switch.
        if (field.value == @intFromEnum(any)) {
            return @field(any, field.name).len;
        }
    }
    // When using `inline for` the compiler doesn't know that every
    // possible case has been handled requiring an explicit `unreachable`.
    unreachable;
}
fn withSwitch(any: AnySlice) usize {
    return switch (any) {
        // With `inline else` the function is explicitly generated
        // as the desired switch and the compiler can check that
        // every possible case is handled.
        inline else => |slice| slice.len,
    };
}
test "inline for and inline else similarity" {
    const any = AnySlice{ .c = "hello" };
    try expect(withFor(any) == 5);
    try expect(withSwitch(any) == 5);
}

Shell

$ zig test test_inline_else.zig
1/1 test_inline_else.test.inline for and inline else similarity... OK
All 1 tests passed.

When using an inline prong switching on an union an additional capture can be used to obtain the union’s enum tag value.

test_inline_switch_union_tag.zig

const std = @import("std");
const expect = std.testing.expect;
const U = union(enum) {
    a: u32,
    b: f32,
};
fn getNum(u: U) u32 {
    switch (u) {
        // Here `num` is a runtime-known value that is either
        // `u.a` or `u.b` and `tag` is `u`'s comptime-known tag value.
        inline else => |num, tag| {
            if (tag == .b) {
                return @intFromFloat(num);
            }
            return num;
        }
    }
}
test "test" {
    const u = U{ .b = 42 };
    try expect(getNum(u) == 42);
}

Shell

$ zig test test_inline_switch_union_tag.zig
1/1 test_inline_switch_union_tag.test.test... OK
All 1 tests passed.

See also:

• inline while
• inline for