Exercise 5 Solution - Switch Statement Approach

Switch Statement Solution

letter = input('Enter your answer: ', 's');
letter = lower(letter);
switch letter
    case 'y'
        fprintf('Ok, continuing\n'); 
    case 'n'
        fprintf('Ok, halting\n');
    otherwise
        fprintf('Error\n');
end

Code Explanation:

Line 1: Reads user input as a string
Line 3: Converts input to lowercase using lower() function
Line 5-11: Switch statement handles different cases
Line 6-7: Handles 'y' input (both original and converted from 'Y')
Line 8-9: Handles 'n' input (both original and converted from 'N')
Line 10-11: Handles all other inputs with error message

Example Outputs:
Enter your answer: 'Y'
Ok, continuing

Enter your answer: 'n'
Ok, halting

Enter your answer: 'x'
Error

⚠️ Important Note:

While this switch statement solution is elegant and works perfectly, it does not meet the original exercise requirement which specified using a "single nested if-else statement". This solution is presented as an alternative approach that demonstrates good MATLAB programming practices.

Required If-Else Solution (Meets Exercise Requirements):

letter = input('Enter your answer: ', 's');
if letter == 'y' | letter == 'Y'
    fprintf('OK, continuing\n');
elseif letter == 'n' | letter == 'N'
    fprintf('OK, halting\n');
else
    fprintf('Error\n');
end

Comparison of Approaches:

Feature	Switch Statement	If-Else Statement
Case Handling	Uses `lower()` to simplify	Explicitly checks each case
Readability	Very clean for multiple cases	Clear but more verbose
Exercise Compliance	❌ Does not meet requirements	✅ Meets requirements

Exercise 5 Solution - Alternative Approach