Why can t the switch statement be applied on strings

Question

When the following code is compiled, the following error message appears: 

Enter illegal.

int main()
{
    // Compilation error - switch expression of type illegal
    switch(std::string("raj"))
    {
    case"sda":
    }
}

String cannot be used in either switch or case. 

Why? 

Is there a good way for supporting logic comparable to switch on strings?

Answer 1

The reason for this is due to the type system.

Strings are not supported as a type in C/C++.

It does support the concept of a constant char array, but it does not fully comprehend the concept of a string.

The compiler must comprehend what it means for two values to be equal in order to create code for a switch statement.

This is a simple bit comparison for objects like ints and enums.

However, how should the compiler compare two strings?

Case sensitive, insensitive, culturally aware, and so forth...

Without a complete awareness of a string this cannot be adequately addressed.

Furthermore, C/C++ switch statements are usually created as branch tables.

A branch table for a string style switch is not nearly as simple to create.