Eliminating `switch` statements

Question

What are ways of eliminating the use of switch statements in code?

Answer 1

Switch-statements are not an antipattern per se, but if you're coding object oriented you should consider if the use of a switch is better solved with polymorphism instead of using a switch statement.

With polymorphism, this:

foreach (var animal in zoo) {
    switch (typeof(animal)) {
        case "dog":
            echo animal.bark();
            break;

        case "cat":
            echo animal.meow();
            break;
    }
}

becomes this:

foreach (var animal in zoo) {
    echo animal.speak();
}