How to make it shorter - Java String.equal(string) method

Question

I made if statement, but it is so long..

like that :

if("WORDS".equals(object.string1) || "WORDS".equals(object.string2) || "WORDS".equals(object.string3)
|| "WORDS".equals(object.string4) || "WORDS".equals(object.string5) || "WORDS".equals(object.string6)
|| "WORDS".equals(object.string7) || "WORDS".equals(object.string8)  || "WORDS".equals(object.string9)
|| "WORDS".equals(object.string10)) { ......... }

how to make it shorter statement

Put `string1..string10` into a `Set`, and use `set.contains("WORDS")`. — Andy Turner, Apr 15 '16 at 08:22
With your edit, you've now made it either not compile (since `java.lang.Object` doesn't have those fields) or confusing (since `Object` no longer refers to `java.lang.Object`). — Andy Turner, Apr 15 '16 at 08:24
The code you have posted doesn't make any sense. Do you have any actual (compilable) code to ask about? — khelwood, Apr 15 '16 at 08:25
@AndyTurner I think the OP was going for a more plastic explanation. If it said `MyClass` instead of `Object` it would've made more sense but still wouldn't compile. — Shark, Apr 15 '16 at 08:25
Put `string1..string10` into a first place (numbered variable names are always suspicious), and then use `Arrays.asList(strings).contains("WORDS")`. — Andy Turner, Apr 15 '16 at 08:25
@Ryujihoon Made less sense at the time of my comment, before it was edited. — khelwood, Apr 15 '16 at 09:33

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 15 '16 at 08:37

Try this

static boolean equalsOr(String a, String... b) {
    for (String s : b)
        if (a.equals(s))
            return true;
    return false;
}

and

if (equalsOr("WORDS", object.string1, object.string2, ...))

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 15 '16 at 08:41

You could create a function with variable number of arguments:

static bool compareMultiStrings(String words, String ... stringi) {
  if (words == null) return false;

  for(String  s : stringi){
    if (words.equals(s)) return true;
  }

  return false;
}

and then call it from your if:

if (
  compareMultiStrings(
    "WORDS",
    object.string1, object.string2, object.string3, object.string4,
    object.string5, object.string6, object.string7, object.string8,
    object.string9)
)
{ ..... }

The first argument if for your constants string, "WORDS". The other parameters is the varargs parameter.

How to make it shorter - Java String.equal(string) method

2 Answers2