Grade Description Using Switch in Java
beginner· Control Flow · Switch Statement
Problem
A switch statement can map a fixed set of letter grades directly to their descriptions, without any threshold comparisons.
Given a letter grade, print a short description of what it means.
Input
grade = 'B'
Output
Good
Java Program
Java
public class GradeDescriptionSwitch {
public static void main(String[] args) {
char grade = 'B';
String description;
switch (grade) {
case 'A':
description = "Excellent";
break;
case 'B':
description = "Good";
break;
case 'C':
description = "Average";
break;
case 'D':
description = "Below Average";
break;
case 'F':
description = "Fail";
break;
default:
description = "Invalid grade"; // required so description is always assigned
}
System.out.println(description);
}
}Output
Good
Core Logic
Matching the letter grade against each case directly looks up its description, without needing any range comparisons.
How It Works
- 1
switch (grade)matches the character against each case label. - 2'A' resolves to "Excellent", 'B' to "Good", 'C' to "Average", 'D' to "Below Average", and 'F' to "Fail".
- 3The
defaultcase handles any character that isn't one of the five recognized grades, printing "Invalid grade".
For
grade = 'B', the case 'B' branch matches directly and prints "Good".💡
Key Point: Unlike converting numeric marks into a grade, this assumes the grade letter is already known and just needs a description — a direct switch lookup replaces range comparisons entirely.
Key Concepts
switch statementchar switchdefault case