Regarding Java switch statements - using return and omitting breaks in each case

Question

Given this method, does this represent some egregious stylistic or semantic faux pas:

private double translateSlider(int sliderVal) {
    switch (sliderVal) {
        case 0:
            return 1.0;
        case 1:
            return .9;
        case 2:
            return .8;
        case 3:
            return .7;
        case 4:
            return .6;
        default:
            return 1.0;
    }
}  

It's clearly not in line with the Java tutorials here.

However, It's clear, concise and so far has yielded exactly what I need. Is there a compelling, pragmatic reason to create a local variable, assign a value to it within each case, add a break to each case and return the value at the end of the method?

Answer 1

Assigning a value to a local variable and then returning that at the end is considered a good practice. Methods having multiple exits are harder to debug and can be difficult to read.

That said, thats the only plus point left to this paradigm. It was originated when only low-level procedural languages were around. And it made much more sense at that time.

While we are on the topic you must check this out. Its an interesting read.