Advantage of switch over if-else statement

Question

What\'s the best practice for using a switch statement vs using an if statement for 30 unsigned enumerations where about 10 have an ex

Answer 1

For the special case that you've provided in your example, the clearest code is probably:

if (RequiresSpecialEvent(numError))
    fire_special_event();

Obviously this just moves the problem to a different area of the code, but now you have the opportunity to reuse this test. You also have more options for how to solve it. You could use std::set, for example:

bool RequiresSpecialEvent(int numError)
{
    return specialSet.find(numError) != specialSet.end();
}

I'm not suggesting that this is the best implementation of RequiresSpecialEvent, just that it's an option. You can still use a switch or if-else chain, or a lookup table, or some bit-manipulation on the value, whatever. The more obscure your decision process becomes, the more value you'll derive from having it in an isolated function.