Switch Default Not Last

ID

java.switch_default_not_last

Severity

info

Remediation Complexity

medium

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

medium

Resource

Code Smell

Language

Java

Tags

code-style

Description

Reports switch statements where the default case is not the last entry in the switch body.

Rationale

The default case is the catch-all: it handles every value not matched by explicit case labels. Placing it before other cases makes the switch harder to read and can mask bugs. Cases appearing after default may be silently unreachable if the default falls through, and developers scanning the switch expect the catch-all at the end.

// Bad -- default in the middle
switch (code) {
    case 1: handleOne(); break;
    default: handleOther(); break;
    case 2: handleTwo(); break;   // easy to miss
}

Remediation

Move the default case to the end of the switch body:

// Good -- default at the end
switch (code) {
    case 1: handleOne(); break;
    case 2: handleTwo(); break;
    default: handleOther(); break;
}

References