switch Statements

In PowerShell, a switch statement is used to evaluate an expression and perform different actions based on the value of that expression. It is similar to a series of if/elseif statements, but it is more concise and easier to read.

The basic syntax of a switch statement is as follows:

switch (expression)
{
    value1 { statement(s) }
    value2 { statement(s) }
    default { statement(s) }
}

Here, expression is the value that is being evaluated, and value1, value2, etc. are the possible values that expression can have. The statements under each value block are executed if expression has the corresponding value. If expression does not match any of the specified values, the statements under the default block are executed.

For example, let’s say we want to write a script that takes a number as input and prints out the corresponding month name. We can use a switch statement to accomplish this:

$num = Read-Host "Enter a number between 1 and 12"

switch ($num)
{
    1 { Write-Host "January" }
    2 { Write-Host "February" }
    3 { Write-Host "March" }
    4 { Write-Host "April" }
    5 { Write-Host "May" }
    6 { Write-Host "June" }
    7 { Write-Host "July" }
    8 { Write-Host "August" }
    9 { Write-Host "September" }
    10 { Write-Host "October" }
    11 { Write-Host "November" }
    12 { Write-Host "December" }
    default { Write-Host "Invalid input" }
}