Thread: can we use default keyword without switch

I am curious to know can we use default keyword without switch ? If it can't be done. so can anyone tell why it can't be done.

If it's possible to do so what's the problem in my code it shows error before default

Code:

 #include<stdio.h> 

#define Var  3


int main()
{
    
    if ( Var  == 2 )
    {
           printf(" 2 \n" );
    }
    
    if ( Var  == 5)
    {
        printf(" 5 \n" );
    }
    
    
    if ( Var  == 4)
    {
           printf(" 4 \n" );
    }
    


    default
    {
        printf(" Not Valid \n" );
    }
     
    
     return 0;
}

Did you tried?

Originally Posted by flp1969

Did you tried?

Yes compiler shows following error

Code:

error: expected ':' before '{' token     {
     ^

I know default is use with switch case but this question is for my curiosity

Originally Posted by laserlight

The simple answer is: no, because it is invalid syntax.

There may be some edge case or whatever where this is not true, but I don't feel like researching it, especially not when it'll probably confuse you anyway. Just stick to default with switch.

Thank you laserlight for answering my question

Originally Posted by aghast

So you might be happy with something like:

Code:

    otherwise: {
        printf("I got nuffink\n");
    }

But you could achieve the same result using a #define if you don't like adding the colon. Just #define otherwise /*empty*/ and use it:

Code:

    otherwise {
        ...
    }

But note that adding the label, by itself, doesn't actually do anything special. The code block would still be executed unconditionally. You'd need to change the previous if statements to a chain of "if"/"else if" and then change the "default" block to "else".