C/C++ switch case with string [duplicate]

Answer 1

You can use enumeration and a map, so your string will become the key and enum value is value for that key.

Answer 2

Just use a if() { } else if () { } chain. Using a hash value is going to be a maintenance nightmare. switch is intended to be a low-level statement which would not be appropriate for string comparisons.

Answer 3

Typically, you would use a hash table and function object, both available in Boost, TR1 and C++0x.

void func1() {
}
std::unordered_map<std::string, std::function<void()>> hash_map;
hash_map["Value1"] = &func1;
// .... etc
hash_map[mystring]();

This is a little more overhead at runtime but a bajillion times more maintainable. Hash tables offer O(1) insertion, lookup, and etc, which makes them the same complexity as the assembly-style jump-table.

Answer 4

The best way is to use source generation, so that you could use

if (hash(str) == HASH("some string") ..

in your main source, and an pre-build step would convert the HASH(const char*) expression to an integer value.