Blocks and Statements - The Java Language Specification - page 383

• If execution of the Statement completes abruptly for any other reason, the switch
statement completes abruptly for the same reason.
The case of abrupt completion because of a break with a label is handled by the
general rule for labeled statements (§ 14.7 ) .
Example 14.11-1. Fall-Through in the switch Statement
As in C and C++, execution of statements in a switch block “falls through labels.”
For example, the program:
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class TooMany {
static void howMany(int k) {
switch (k) {
case 1: System.out.print("one ");
case 2: System.out.print("too ");
case 3: System.out.println("many");
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
howMany(3);
howMany(2);
howMany(1);
}
}
contains a switch block in which the code for each case falls through into the code for
the next case . As a result, the program prints:
many
too many
one too many
If code is not to fall through case to case in this manner, then break statements should be
used, as in this example:
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class TwoMany {
static void howMany(int k) {
switch (k) {
case 1: System.out.println("one");
break; // exit the switch
case 2: System.out.println("two");
break; // exit the switch