Require Default Case in Switch Statements (default-case)

Some code conventions require that all switch statements have a default case, even if the default case is empty, such as:

switch (foo) {
    case 1:
        doSomething();
        break;

    case 2:
        doSomething();
        break;

    default:
        // do nothing
}

The thinking is that it's better to always explicitly state what the default behavior should be so that it's clear whether or not the developer forgot to include the default behavior by mistake.

Other code conventions allow you to skip the default case so long as there is a comment indicating the omission is intentional, such as:

switch (foo) {
    case 1:
        doSomething();
        break;

    case 2:
        doSomething();
        break;

    // no default
}

Once again, the intent here is to show that the developer intended for there to be no default behavior.

Rule Details

This rule aims to require default case in switch statements. You may optionally include a // no default after the last case if there is no default case. The comment may be in any desired case, such as // No Default.

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

/*eslint default-case: "error"*/

switch (a) {
    case 1:
        /* code */
        break;
}

Examples of correct code for this rule:

/*eslint default-case: "error"*/

switch (a) {
    case 1:
        /* code */
        break;

    default:
        /* code */
        break;
}


switch (a) {
    case 1:
        /* code */
        break;

    // no default
}

switch (a) {
    case 1:
        /* code */
        break;

    // No Default
}

Options

This rule accepts a single options argument:

• Set the commentPattern option to a regular expression string to change the default /^no default$/i comment test pattern

commentPattern

Examples of correct code for the { "commentPattern": "^skip\\sdefault" } option:

/*eslint default-case: ["error", { "commentPattern": "^skip\\sdefault" }]*/

switch(a) {
    case 1:
        /* code */
        break;

    // skip default
}

switch(a) {
    case 1:
        /* code */
        break;

    // skip default case
}

When Not To Use It

If you don't want to enforce a default case for switch statements, you can safely disable this rule.

Related Rules

• no-fallthrough

Version

This rule was introduced in ESLint 0.6.0.

Resources

• Rule source
• Documentation source