Parsing a string to split into two names

Question

Take a String parameter that is a name, with exactly two names in the String and exactly one space between the two names.

For example, "Marley, Bob"

I need help completing this method: it returns a String with the same name, but in the form "Bob Marley"

public static String convertName(String name) 
{

}

Many things, all of which did not work :) I'm not a slacker, I'm still learning. — Renea S., Dec 12 '13 at 14:57
@ReneaS. Then show it. Say if you did something like String.replace(","," "). Not only could someone explain WHAT to do to fix it but teach you WHY yours didn't work, giving you two benefits. Right now instead you have two poor submitted answers now and may have to fix theirs. — Lan, Dec 12 '13 at 15:02

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 12 '13 at 14:51

2

String[] arr = name.split(", ");
return arr[1]+" "+arr[0];

answered Dec 12 '13 at 14:51

Tim B

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openmike · Answer 2 · 2013-12-12T15:19:13.017

1

I will use a StringTokenizer and StringBuilder for this problem

public static String convertName(String name) 
{
    StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(name, ", ");
    String lastName = tokenizer.nextToken();
    String firstName = tokenizer.nextToken();
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    builder.append("\nfirstName : " + firstName);
    builder.append("\nlastName : " + lastName);
    return builder.toString();                  
}

edited Dec 12 '13 at 15:19

answered Dec 12 '13 at 14:58

openmike

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I did some research on this, and it seems after JDK 1.4, the use of StringTokenizer to split String in Java is discouraged, and instead the String.split(...) method or use of java.util.regex package is encouraged. – Renea S. Dec 12 '13 at 15:02
You can do a perfomance test to see which one is faster, split() or tokenizer for one line and many lines; reference:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/736654/javas-scanner-vs-string-split-vs-stringtokenizer-which-should-i-use – openmike Dec 12 '13 at 15:06
nextElement() does not return a String…..http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/StringTokenizer.html#nextElement() @openmike If speed matters, one would just iterate over the String. – Lan Dec 12 '13 at 15:07
I made changes to tokenizer.nextToken(). Sorry about that. – openmike Dec 12 '13 at 15:09
Renea: performance test for a case where you have many lines of each full name and you have to call that method multiple times using an iterator or loop. – openmike Dec 12 '13 at 15:11

ram · Answer 3 · 2013-12-31T19:15:44.570

0

Apache Commons libraries provide great solutions unless you've specific requirements.

Have Commons Lang jar in your classpath. The following snippet may be the needed solution [doesn't look so elegant though].

StringUtils.replace(StringUtils.reverseDelimited(name, ','), ",", " ")

StringUtils.reverseDelimited(name, delimiter) - Reverses the order identified by delimiter. Ex: a,b,c becomes c,b,a

StringUtils.replace(name,searchString, replaceString) - Replaces all occurences of searchString with replaceString

Refer API - StringUtils - Commons Lang 2.6

edited Dec 31 '13 at 19:15

answered Dec 12 '13 at 15:32

ram

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This won't wrap the first and last name! – bobbel Dec 12 '13 at 16:00
@bobbel I didn't get your point. The input is "Bob, Marley" and output needs to be "Bob Marley" as per the method declaration & OP's question. – ram Dec 12 '13 at 16:25
Read it clearly: 'Marley, Bob' should turn into 'Bob Marley'! – bobbel Dec 12 '13 at 16:26
@bobbel Thanks bobbel! Overlooked & corrected now. – ram Dec 12 '13 at 17:01

Parsing a string to split into two names

3 Answers3