Stop Using Switch in TypeScript — 3 Alternatives To Use Instead

You can avoid the switch statement, as TypeScript has its own versions

Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo on Unsplash.

What’s wrong with the following code?

You can very well say “nothing.” That would be a valid answer. But this code can be considered a code smell if you find it as part of a larger code base where there is a lot more logic around and inside it. Truth be told, switch statements aren’t that great.

With a switch statement, you’re creating a huge block of code that has to be executed serially, checking one condition after the next one. Its syntax allows for problems such as forgetting to write a break clause and causing multiple cases to be executed accidentally. You don’t want to use a switch statement if you can avoid it, but what are the alternatives?

Depending on the language you’re using, you’ll have different options at your disposal. Given that we’re dealing with TypeScript (and therefore, JavaScript), we can mix and match. Here are my three favorite ways of avoiding switch…