yeah, switches are slow. port mentioned once it actually runs slower than if statements if you put the getword(%line, 0) inside of the switch() cause every time it checks a case, it runs whatever is in the switch() parens. otherwise, its exactly the same performance as setting up a set of if-statements.
%word = getWord(%line, 0);
switch(%word)
{
etc...
going with zeblotes idea sacrifices file readability with performance, which can become an issue if you plan on adding a ton of things to this file.