[thelist] php SWITCH vs ELSE IF

[Mattias Thorslund]

Well, one difference is that your example will execute the is_page()
function up to seven times while the "switch" statement would execute a
similar function just once. If is_page() is a costly function, it could
affect performance noticeably.  I suspect all your function does is to
compare some query string value with the parameter supplied--that
wouldn't be very costly at all.

I prefer the "switch" statement over "else if" when the method of
evaluation is the same in each case, such as in your example. Notice
that is_page() would need to be re-written to return the 'type' of page.

switch(get_page_type()){
case 'miscellaneous':
    echo $misc;
    break;
case 'associates':
    echo $misc;
    break;
//fill in the rest here...
default:
    die('unknown page type');
    break;
}

I might use the "else if" construct if the evaluations are different in
each step, but then "nested ifs" are often easier to read.


FWIW,

Mattias

Mark Mckee wrote:
> hi all
>
> I have written a short code to display a certain menu depending on which 
> page it is on. the code works fine and I do get my desired results.
>
> i am using an ELSE IF statement and would like to know if this would be 
> better than using a switch statement.
>
> sorry if this is a simple question but i was unable to find the answer 
> with google and php websites.
>
> thanks in advance.
>
> the code:
>
> <?php
> if (is_page('miscellaneous'))
> {
>       echo $misc ;
> }
> elseif (is_page('associates'))
> {
>     echo $misc ;
> }
> elseif (is_page('downloads'))
> {
>     echo $misc ;
> }
> elseif (is_page('gallery'))
> {
>     echo $misc ;
> }
> elseif (is_page('reviews'))
> {
>     echo $misc ;
> }
> elseif (is_page('xbox'))
> {
>     echo $misc ;
> }
> elseif (is_page('moto-gp3'))
> {
>     echo $misc ;
> }
> ?>
>
>