Empty Switch Statement

ID

java.empty_switch_statement

Severity

info

Remediation Complexity

medium

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

medium

Resource

Code Smell

Language

Java

Tags

code-style, unused-code

Description

Reports switch statements with no case labels (empty body).

Rationale

An empty switch statement evaluates its selector expression but has no cases to match. The construct is dead code that adds unnecessary complexity and typically indicates either an unfinished implementation or a leftover from refactoring:

switch (value) {
    // Nothing here
}

Remediation

Either add the intended case labels or remove the empty switch entirely:

// Option 1: add cases
switch (value) {
    case 1:
        handleOne();
        break;
    default:
        handleOther();
        break;
}

// Option 2: remove the empty switch

References