Is using "default" case in a switch statement a good habit? [closed]

Question

when I'm using a switch(in Java in this case) I normally use the default case if needed. One of my teachers told me that when he used to program in Pascal, that case didn't exist. He said that if it didn't exist in Pascal it shouldn't be something good to use.

My questions are:

• Is it wrong to use the default case?
• How does it work internally?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I would consider it a bad habit not to use it.

• If you think the default case will never happen, throw an exception to be sure
  • If you switch over an enum, it may happen that someone added another value
  • If you switch over an integer, it is always possible that an unexpected value is found
• because the default case always happens when you expect it the least
• As far as I know there is something similar in Pascal

Edit:

This is Pascal, just to prove your teacher wrong

case place of
  1: writeln('Champion');
  2: writeln('First runner-up');
  3: writeln('Second runner-up'); 
  else writeln('Work hard next time!'); 
end;