In Control flow§

See primary documentation in context for default and when

A block containing a default statement will be left immediately when the sub-block after the default statement is left. It is as though the rest of the statements in the block were skipped.

given 42 {
    "This says".say;
    $_ == 42 and ( default { "This says, too".say; 43; } );
    "This never says".say;
}
# The above block evaluates to 43

A when statement will also do this (but a when statement modifier will not.)

In addition, when statements smartmatch the topic ($_) against a supplied expression such that it is possible to check against values, regular expressions, and types when specifying a match.

for 42, 43, "foo", 44, "bar" {
    when Int { .say }
    when /:i ^Bar/ { .say }
    default  { say "Not an Int or a Bar" }
}
# OUTPUT: «42␤43␤Not an Int or a Bar␤44␤Bar␤»

In this form, the given/when construct acts much like a set of if/elsif/else statements. Be careful with the order of the when statements. The following code says "Int" not 42.

given 42 {
    when Int { say "Int" }
    when 42  { say 42 }
    default  { say "huh?" }
}
# OUTPUT: «Int␤»

When a when statement or default statement causes the outer block to return, nesting when or default blocks do not count as the outer block, so you can nest these statements and still be in the same "switch" just so long as you do not open a new block:

given 42 {
    when Int {
      when 42  { say 42 }
      say "Int"
    }
    default  { say "huh?" }
}
# OUTPUT: «42␤»

when statements can smartmatch against Signatures.