Switch statement with returns — code correctness

Question

Let\'s say I have code in C with approximately this structure:

switch (something)
{
    case 0:
      return \"blah\";
      break;

    case 1:
    case 4:
         


        

Answer 1

Interesting. The consensus from most of these answers seems to be that the redundant break statement is unnecessary clutter. On the other hand, I read the break statement in a switch as the 'closing' of a case. case blocks that don't end in a break tend to jump out at me as potential fall though bugs.

I know that that's not how it is when there's a return instead of a break, but that's how my eyes 'read' the case blocks in a switch, so I personally would prefer that each case be paired with a break. But many compilers do complain about the break after a return being superfluous/unreachable, and apparently I seem to be in the minority anyway.

So get rid of the break following a return.

NB: all of this is ignoring whether violating the single entry/exit rule is a good idea or not. As far as that goes, I have an opinion that unfortunately changes depending on the circumstances...