Can I use any data type in a

when

statement?

any that has proper

.equals

function

And if it doesn't you can still use

in

.

I can create types without

.equals

, right?

It'll always have an .equals; it's just that it will use object identity by default or however it's called

OK right, but the

when

will compile?

yeah

OK, thank you

java just copied C's switch, which was a standard at that time

OK, I see

To be fair the Kotlin

when

is not that powerful either, other languages like Scala, C#, Rust and others have actual pattern matching.

What does pattern matching mean here?

And in JDK12, they are beginning the process of improving

switch

. Much closer to Groovy switch/Kotlin when. Details: https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/12-relnote-issues-5211422.html#JDK-8192963 And in future versions, they intend to introduce forms of pattern matching.