Arizona State University (ASU) CSE100 Principles of Programming with C++ Midterm 1 Practice Exam

The purpose of a switch statement in C++ is to allow multi-way branching based on the value of a single expression. When you have an expression that can take on many potential values, using a switch statement helps to direct the flow of your program to different blocks of code depending on which value that expression evaluates to.

This construct improves the readability and maintainability of your code, especially when compared to using multiple if-else statements. Each case in a switch statement corresponds to a possible value of the expression, making it clear which block of code will execute for each value. When the expression matches a case, execution continues until a break statement is encountered or the switch statement ends. If none of the cases match, an optional default case can be used to handle unmatched values.

The other choices do not align with the primary function of a switch statement. For instance, while arrays facilitate data storage, the switch statement is not directly related to them. Similarly, the switch statement is not designed for structured data storage or performing calculations; rather, it focuses on controlling the flow of the program based on specific values of an expression.