Java switch : variable declaration and scope

Question

How does the Java compiler handle the following switch block ? What is the scope of the \'b\' variable ?

Note that the \'b\' variable is declared only in the first b

Answer 1

The scope of b is the block. You have only one block which includes all cases. That's why you get a compile error when you redeclare b in your second case.

You could wrap each case in an own block like

case 0:
   {
     int b = 1;
     ...
   }
case 1:
   {
     int b = 2;
     ...
   }

but I think FindBugs or CheckStyle would complain about that.