All well designed switch modes have short circuit protection. They will just sit there ticking, as they current limit.....
I agree. However, I've also learned that not all switchers are well designed. But yeah, just about all of them can handle a direct short these days. It's the older, cheaper ones that you have to watch out for.
Fuses also blow, allowing your power supply to come out of protection and power the rest of your gear- very handy if one of your driver boards fails or a diode goes short or something.