title: Why the switch statement and not if-else?
body: <p>I've been wondering this for some time now.  I'm by far not a hardcore programmer, mainly small Python scripts and I've written a couple molecular dynamics simulations.  For the real question:  What is the point of the <i><b>switch statement</i></b>?  Why can't you just use the <i><b>if-else statement</i></b>?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks for your answer and if this has been asked before please point me to the link.</p>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT</strong></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/users/10661/s-lott">S.Lott</a> has pointed out that this may be a duplicate of questions <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/395618/if-else-vs-switch">If/Else vs. Switch</a>.  If you want to close then do so.  I'll leave it open for further discussion.</p>