I am trying to do this problem but can't get around with it. Please tell me what i did wrong and any tips on how to solving it? Thanks.
here is the problem:
Write a method stutter that takes an ArrayList of Strings and an integer k as parameters and that replaces every string with k copies of that string. For example, if the list stores the values ["how", "are", "you?"] before the method is called and k is 4, it should store the values ["how", "how", "how", "how", "are", "are", "are", "are", "you?", "you?", "you?", "you?"] after the method finishes executing. If k is 0 or negative, the list should be empty after the call.
my code:
public static void stutter(ArrayList<String> list,int k) {
String s = "";
for(int i = 0; i<list.size(); i++) {
s = list.get(i);
}
for(int j = 0; j < k; j++) {
list.add(j,s);
}
}
Well...two things are wrong here:
You're not returning anything, which is a bit of a problem if you want to get back the modified list without changing/destroying your original data.
Your loops aren't doing anything meaningful. The first loop is only going to give you the last element in your list, and then you only add that k times. Most definitely not what you want.
I won't give the entire thing away, as this is an exercise for you, but here's some suggestions:
Create your own ArrayList<String> to return instead of that String variable. You'll also be declaring the method to return ArrayList<String>. May as well initialize it, too.
Read each word in the list passed in. Add that to the local list k times (hint: nested loops). If there's no words to be read, then the loop to add the elements isn't fired.
Here is the code
public static List<String> stutter(ArrayList<String> list,int k) {
List<String> resultList=new ArrayList<String>(); // creating new list
if(k<=0) {
return resultList; //return empty list. Return null if necessary
} else {
for(String s : list) { //looping the list input
for(int i=0;i<k;i++) {
resultList.add(s); // adding the same string k times
}
}
return resultList;
}
}
Second for loop should be nested in first for loop
And strings should be added to a newlist instead of adding them to
the samelist
Done modifications to your code.
public static void stutter(List<String> list,int k) {
String s = "";
List<String> newList=new ArrayList<String>();
if(k>0) {
for(int i = 0; i<list.size(); i++) {
s = list.get(i);
for(int j = 0; j < k; j++) {
newList.add(s);
}
}
}
list=newList; // Assigning it your input list since you want to change the actual list
System.out.println(list.toString()); //Since not returning anything, printing the data
}
Related
public static boolean testGetUniqueCheckedOutItems() {
String[] items = new String[]{"Carrot","Chicken","Chicken", "Tomato", "Onion","Carrot","Tomato"};
int size = 7;
String[] empty = {};
getUniqueCheckedOutItems(items,size,empty));
public static int getUniqueCheckedOutItems(String[] items, int size, String[] itemsSet) {
itemsSet = new String [items.length];
for (int i =0; i<items.length; i++) {
itemsSet[i] = items[i];
}
for (int i=itemsSet.length-1; i>=0; i--) {
for (int j = i-1; j>=0; j--) {
if (itemsSet[i].equals(itemsSet[j])) {
size--;
}
}
return size;
}
The code supposes to return the size which remove the duplicates in array. However, it suppose not to remove both duplicate, but just one. So in here, since duplicates are "carrot, chicken,tomato" Thus, it suppose to return 4. However, it only return 6.
Can anyone help me to solve this?
I been on this problem for like an hour and half now
This has several syntax errors so I'm not sure how you are obtaining any output.
The method testGetUniqueCheckedOutItems() does not have a closing brace
The method getUniqueCheckedOutItems() does not have a closing brace
and the method getUniqueCheckedOutItems(items,size,empty)); has an unexpected closing parenthesis.
The reason you would be getting the wrong value is that the return statement is inside of the outer for loop. So you prematurely return size. Did you incorrectly enter your code?
I am working on the following coding prompt for my class:
Your task is to write a method with the following signature:
public static String[] removeFromArray(String[] arr, String toRemove)
The method should return a string array that has the same contents as arr, except without any
occurrences of the toRemove string. For example, if your method is called by the code below
String[] test = {“this”, “is”, “the”, “example”, “of”, “the”, “call”};
String[] result = removeFromArray(test, “the”);
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(result));
it should generate the following output:
[this, is, example, of, call]
Note: Your method will be passed values for arr and toRemove by the testing program – you should not
read these values in from the user inside your method. Also, you must write this method with the
signature requested above in order to receive credit. You do not need to write the code that calls the
method – only the method itself.
Hint: Because you must specify the length of an array when you create it, you will likely need to make
two loops through the input array: one to count the number of occurrences of the toRemove string so
that you can create the new array with the proper size and a second to copy all of the other strings to the new array.
I have everything working in my code but the last part where I have to print out the new array does not work, I know I have make it smaller so it will print out properly, but I can't get that part to work. I know I have to get rid of the null, but I don't know how. Also my code has to work for any array not just the test case I have. Some help or advice would really be nice. Thank you very much!!! :)
Here is my code:
public static void main(String[] args) {
String[] test = {"this", "is", "the", "example", "of", "the", "call"};
String[] remove = removeFromArray(test, "the");
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(remove));
}
public static String[] removeFromArray(String[] arr, String toRemove) {
int count = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if (arr[i].equals(toRemove)) {
count++;
}
}
String[] result = new String[arr.length - count];
//for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
// if(!arr[i].equals(toRemove)){
// result[].equals(arr[i]);
//}
//}
return result;
}
you approach looks ok, it looks like the commented code yor are trying to assign the new array with the wrong emthod
you should use result[i] = arr[i] ; instead of result[].equals(arr[i]);
do at the end:
String[] result = new String[arr.length - count];
int k = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if(!toRemove.equals(arr[i])){
result[k] = arr[i];
k++;
}
}
return result;
Your last part should be assigning the value to the array one by one.
int j = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
if(!toRemove.equals(arr[i])){
result[j++] = arr[i];
}
}
It's asking you to return a new String array which excludes the given word. Loop through the array and add word which does not equal to the given word.
public static String[] removeFromArray(String[] arr, String toRemove){
ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<>();
for(String s : arr)
if(!s.equals(toRemove))
words.add(s);
return words.toArray(new String[0]);
}
Since array size cannot be changed after being created, use an ArrayList to store the words, then return as an array.
I know you're new to programming itself, so the solutions given are perfectly fine.
However, using Java, you'd usually use the libraries; in this case, the Collections library. If you're using Java 8, this is how you would do it:
public static String[] removeFromArray(String[] arr, String toRemove) {
// create a List and fill it with your items
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList();
Collections.addAll(list, arr);
// remove the items that are equal to the one to be removed
list.removeIf(s -> toRemove.equals(s));
// transfer back to array
return list.toArray(new String[list.size()]);
}
Then, there are Java 8 Streams, which would make this
public static String[] removeFromArray(String[] arr, String toRemove) {
return Arrays.stream(arr) // create stream from array
.filter(s -> !toRemove.equals(s)) // filter out items
.toArray(String[]::new); // create array from stream
}
Whenever I try to run the code I get IndexOutOfBoundsException. I have tried numerous of ways fixing it but none of them have helped. The method should add a new String element "****" into ArrayList before every String which's length is equal to 4. In this case, it must add "****" before "5555".
Where could be the problem?
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class Main {
public static ArrayList<String> markLength4(ArrayList<String> list) {
int sum = 0;
for ( int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
if (list.get(i).length() == 4) {
list.add(list.indexOf(i), "****");
}
}
return list;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
list.add("ddddddddddddd");
list.add("fffffffffffff");
list.add("5555fdgdfg");
list.add("5555");
list.add("5555");
System.out.println(markLength4(list));
}
}
list.indexOf(i) will return -1, since i doesn't appear in your list. Therefore adding an element at the -1 position will throw an exception.
If you change list.add(list.indexOf(i), "****") to list.add(i, "****");, you'll get an infinite loop that will end with OutOfMemoryError, since the newly added String also has a length() of 4, so another String will be added on the next iteration, and so on.
i is not in your arraylist - it is a list of String, not Integer. That means that list.indexOf(i) == -1.
From your description, I think you mean:
list.add(i, "****");
but you will also need to increment i, e.g.
list.add(i++, "****");
to avoid the infinite loop that Eran mentions.
Or, of course, you can iterate the list backwards, and avoid the infinite loop/need to change the loop variable inside the loop body:
for ( int i = list.size() - 1; i >= 0; i--)
{
if (list.get(i).length() == 4)
{
list.add(i, "****");
}
}
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class Test {
public static ArrayList<String> markLength4(ArrayList<String> list) {
int sum = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
if (list.get(i).length() == 4) {
list.add(i++, "****");
}
}
return list;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
list.add("ddddddddddddd");
list.add("fffffffffffff");
list.add("5555fdgdfg");
list.add("5555");
list.add("5555");
list = markLength4(list);
for (String x : list) {
System.out.println(x);
}
}
}
You'll loop forever this way, because there's 4-lengthened strings forward and you keep adding...
You can solve this by looping from the end, but you'll have to be careful with your index(you should add and increment the index to avoid that)
After Editing list.add(i++,"****"); the code should work just fine.
Notable
If you want to add before use i++;.
If you want to add after your match use ++i;.
list.indexOf(i) is not present in the list . It will produce -1
-1 is not available in ArrayList
Replace the Line
list.add(list.indexOf(i), "****");
with the following line
list.set(i, "****");
It replace the existing content of the List with new element in the index of i with new element i.e (****)
list.indexOf(i) where i is an int and therefore not in your list will throw your error as stated in comments (index -1).
use either of the following:
list.add("str") to add a String to the end of the list
OR
list.set(i, "****") which will set the value at a given index to this new string.
In the markLength4 method, by adding the element in the for loop you keep adding Strings and increasing the list size. You need a flag that tells the index and then ends the loop. You can try something like that
public static ArrayList<String> markLength4(ArrayList<String> list) {
int i = 0;
boolean found = false;
int pos = 0;
while(i < list.size() && !found){
if (list.get(i).length() == 4) {
found = true;
pos = i;
}
i++;
}
list.add(pos, "****");
return list;
}
I'm working on a program that uses an ArrayList to store Strings. The program prompts the user with a menu and allows the user to choose an operation to perform. Such operations are adding Strings to the List, printing the entries etc. What I want to be able to do is create a method called removeDuplicates(). This method will search the ArrayList and remove any duplicated values. I want to leave one instance of the duplicated value(s) within the list. I also want this method to return the total number of duplicates removed.
I've been trying to use nested loops to accomplish this but I've been running into trouble because when entries get deleted, the indexing of the ArrayList gets altered and things don't work as they should. I know conceptually what I need to do but I'm having trouble implementing this idea in code.
Here is some pseudo code:
start with first entry;
check each subsequent entry in the list and see if it matches the first entry;
remove each subsequent entry in the list that matches the first entry;
after all entries have been examined, move on to the second entry;
check each entry in the list and see if it matches the second entry;
remove each entry in the list that matches the second entry;
repeat for entry in the list
Here's the code I have so far:
public int removeDuplicates()
{
int duplicates = 0;
for ( int i = 0; i < strings.size(); i++ )
{
for ( int j = 0; j < strings.size(); j++ )
{
if ( i == j )
{
// i & j refer to same entry so do nothing
}
else if ( strings.get( j ).equals( strings.get( i ) ) )
{
strings.remove( j );
duplicates++;
}
}
}
return duplicates;
}
UPDATE: It appears that Will is looking for a homework solution that involves developing the algorithm to remove duplicates, rather than a pragmatic solution using Sets. See his comment:
Thx for the suggestions. This is part of an assignment and I believe the teacher had intended for the solution to not include sets. In other words, I am to come up with a solution that will search for and remove duplicates without implementing a HashSet. The teacher suggested using nested loops which is what I'm trying to do but I've been having some problems with the indexing of the ArrayList after certain entries are removed.
Why not use a collection such as Set (and an implementation like HashSet) which naturally prevents duplicates?
You can use nested loops without any problem:
public static int removeDuplicates(ArrayList<String> strings) {
int size = strings.size();
int duplicates = 0;
// not using a method in the check also speeds up the execution
// also i must be less that size-1 so that j doesn't
// throw IndexOutOfBoundsException
for (int i = 0; i < size - 1; i++) {
// start from the next item after strings[i]
// since the ones before are checked
for (int j = i + 1; j < size; j++) {
// no need for if ( i == j ) here
if (!strings.get(j).equals(strings.get(i)))
continue;
duplicates++;
strings.remove(j);
// decrease j because the array got re-indexed
j--;
// decrease the size of the array
size--;
} // for j
} // for i
return duplicates;
}
You could try this one liner to take a copy of the String preserving order.
List<String> list;
List<String> dedupped = new ArrayList<String>(new LinkedHashSet<String>(list));
This approach is also O(n) amortized instead of O(n^2)
Just to clarify my comment on matt b's answer, if you really want to count the number of duplicates removed, use this code:
List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
// list gets populated from user input...
Set<String> set = new HashSet<String>(list);
int numDuplicates = list.size() - set.size();
List<String> lst = new ArrayList<String>();
lst.add("one");
lst.add("one");
lst.add("two");
lst.add("three");
lst.add("three");
lst.add("three");
Set se =new HashSet(lst);
lst.clear();
lst = new ArrayList<String>(se);
for (Object ls : lst){
System.out.println("Resulting output---------" + ls);
}
I've been trying to use nested loops to accomplish this but I've been running into trouble because when entries get deleted, the indexing of the ArrayList gets altered and things don't work as they should
Why don't you just decrease the counter each time you delete an entry.
When you delete an entry the elements will move too:
ej:
String [] a = {"a","a","b","c" }
positions:
a[0] = "a";
a[1] = "a";
a[2] = "b";
a[3] = "c";
After you remove your first "a" the indexes are:
a[0] = "a";
a[1] = "b";
a[2] = "c";
So, you should take this into consideration and decrease the value of j ( j--) to avoid "jumping" over a value.
See this screenshot:
public Collection removeDuplicates(Collection c) {
// Returns a new collection with duplicates removed from passed collection.
Collection result = new ArrayList();
for(Object o : c) {
if (!result.contains(o)) {
result.add(o);
}
}
return result;
}
or
public void removeDuplicates(List l) {
// Removes duplicates in place from an existing list
Object last = null;
Collections.sort(l);
Iterator i = l.iterator();
while(i.hasNext()) {
Object o = i.next();
if (o.equals(last)) {
i.remove();
} else {
last = o;
}
}
}
Both untested.
Assuming you can't use a Set like you said, the easiest way of solving the problem is to use a temporary list, rather than attempting to remove the duplicates in place:
public class Duplicates {
public static void main(String[] args) {
List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
list.add("one");
list.add("one");
list.add("two");
list.add("three");
list.add("three");
list.add("three");
System.out.println("Prior to removal: " +list);
System.out.println("There were " + removeDuplicates(list) + " duplicates.");
System.out.println("After removal: " + list);
}
public static int removeDuplicates(List<String> list) {
int removed = 0;
List<String> temp = new ArrayList<String>();
for(String s : list) {
if(!temp.contains(s)) {
temp.add(s);
} else {
//if the string is already in the list, then ignore it and increment the removed counter
removed++;
}
}
//put the contents of temp back in the main list
list.clear();
list.addAll(temp);
return removed;
}
}
You could do something like this, must of what people answered above is one alternative, but here's another.
for (int i = 0; i < strings.size(); i++) {
for (int j = j + 1; j > strings.size(); j++) {
if(strings.get(i) == strings.get(j)) {
strings.remove(j);
j--;
}`
}
}
return strings;
Using a set is the best option to remove the duplicates:
If you have a list of of arrays you can remove the duplicates and still retain array list features:
List<String> strings = new ArrayList<String>();
//populate the array
...
List<String> dedupped = new ArrayList<String>(new HashSet<String>(strings));
int numdups = strings.size() - dedupped.size();
if you can't use a set, sort the array (Collections.sort()) and iterate over the list, checking if the current element is equal to the previous element, if it is, remove it.
Using a set is the best option (as others suggested).
If you want to compare all elements in a list with eachother you should slightly adapt your for loops:
for(int i = 0; i < max; i++)
for(int j = i+1; j < max; j++)
This way you don't compare each element only once instead of twice. This is because the second loop start at the next element compared to the first loop.
Also when removing from a list when iterating over them (even when you use a for loop instead of an iterator), keep in mind that you reduce the size of the list. A common solution is to keep another list of items you want to delete, and then after you finished deciding which to delete, you delete them from the original list.
public ArrayList removeDuplicates(ArrayList <String> inArray)
{
ArrayList <String> outArray = new ArrayList();
boolean doAdd = true;
for (int i = 0; i < inArray.size(); i++)
{
String testString = inArray.get(i);
for (int j = 0; j < inArray.size(); j++)
{
if (i == j)
{
break;
}
else if (inArray.get(j).equals(testString))
{
doAdd = false;
break;
}
}
if (doAdd)
{
outArray.add(testString);
}
else
{
doAdd = true;
}
}
return outArray;
}
You could replace the duplicate with an empty string*, thus keeping the indexing in tact. Then after you've completed you can strip out the empty strings.
*But only if an empty string isn't valid in your implementation.
The problem you are seeing in your code is that you remove an entry during iteration, thus invalidating the iteration location.
For example:
{"a", "b", "c", "b", "b", "d"}
i j
Now you are removing strings[j].
{"a", "b", "c", "b", "d"}
i j
The inner loop ends and j is incremented.
{"a", "b", "c", "b", "d"}
i j
Only one duplicate 'b' detected...oops.
best practice in these cases is to store the locations that have to be removed, and remove them after you have finished iterating through the arraylist. (One bonus, the strings.size() call can be optimized outside of the loops by you or the compiler)
Tip, you can start iterating with j at i+1, you've already checked the 0 - i!
The inner for loop is invalid. If you delete an element, you cannot increment j, since j is now pointing at the element after the one you deleted, and you will need to inspect it.
In other words, you should use a while loop instead of a for loop, and only increment j if the elements at i and j do not match. If they do match, remove the element at j. size() will decrease by 1 and j will now be pointing at the following element, so there is no need to increase j.
Also, there is no reason to inspect all elements in the inner loop, just the ones following i, since duplicates before i have already been removed by prior iterations.
public <Foo> Entry<Integer,List<Foo>> uniqueElementList(List<Foo> listWithPossibleDuplicates) {
List<Foo> result = new ArrayList<Foo>();//...might want to pre-size here, if you have reliable info about the number of dupes
Set<Foo> found = new HashSet<Foo>(); //...again with the pre-sizing
for (Foo f : listWithPossibleDuplicates) if (found.add(f)) result.add(f);
return entryFactory(listWithPossibleDuplicates.size()-found.size(), result);
}
and then some entryFactory(Integer key, List<Foo> value) method. If you want to mutate the original list (possibly not a good idea, but whatever) instead:
public <Foo> int removeDuplicates(List<Foo> listWithPossibleDuplicates) {
int original = listWithPossibleDuplicates.size();
Iterator<Foo> iter = listWithPossibleDuplicates.iterator();
Set<Foo> found = new HashSet<Foo>();
while (iter.hasNext()) if (!found.add(iter.next())) iter.remove();
return original - found.size();
}
for your particular case using strings, you may need to deal with some additional equality constraints (e.g., are upper and lower case versions the same or different?).
EDIT: ah, this is homework. Look up Iterator/Iterable in the Java Collections framework, as well as Set, and see if you don't come to the same conclusion I offered. The generics part is just gravy.
I am bit late to join this question, but I have come with a better solution regarding the same using GENERIC type. All the above provided solutions are just a solution. They are increasing a lead to the complexity of whole runtime thread.
RemoveDuplicacy.java
We can minimize it using a technique which should do the required , at the Load Time.
Example : For suppose when you are using a arraylist of the class type as :
ArrayList<User> usersList = new ArrayList<User>();
usersList.clear();
User user = new User();
user.setName("A");
user.setId("1"); // duplicate
usersList.add(user);
user = new User();
user.setName("A");
user.setId("1"); // duplicate
usersList.add(user);
user = new User();
user.setName("AB");
user.setId("2"); // duplicate
usersList.add(user);
user = new User();
user.setName("C");
user.setId("4");
usersList.add(user);
user = new User();
user.setName("A");
user.setId("1"); // duplicate
usersList.add(user);
user = new User();
user.setName("A");
user.setId("2"); // duplicate
usersList.add(user);
}
The Class for which is the base for the arraylist used above : User class
class User {
private String name;
private String id;
/**
* #param name
* the name to set
*/
public void setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
/**
* #return the name
*/
public String getName() {
return name;
}
/**
* #param id
* the id to set
*/
public void setId(String id) {
this.id = id;
}
/**
* #return the id
*/
public String getId() {
return id;
}
}
Now in java there are two Overrided methods present of Object (parent) Class, which can help here in the means to serve our purpose better.They are :
#Override
public int hashCode() {
final int prime = 31;
int result = 1;
result = prime * result + ((id == null) ? 0 : id.hashCode());
return result;
}
#Override
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
if (this == obj)
return true;
if (obj == null)
return false;
if (getClass() != obj.getClass())
return false;
User other = (User) obj;
if (id == null) {
if (other.id != null)
return false;
} else if (!id.equals(other.id))
return false;
return true;
}
You have to override these methods in the User class
Here is the complete code :
https://gist.github.com/4584310
Let me know if you have any queries.
You can add the list into a HashSet and then again convert that hashset into list to remove the duplicates.
public static int removeDuplicates(List<String> duplicateList){
List<String> correctedList = new ArrayList<String>();
Set<String> a = new HashSet<String>();
a.addAll(duplicateList);
correctedList.addAll(a);
return (duplicateList.size()-correctedList.size());
}
here it will return the number of duplicates. You can also use the correctList with all unique values
Below is the code to remove duplicate elements from a list without changing the order of the list,without using temporary list and without using any set variables.This code saves the memory and boosts performance.
This is a generic method which works with any kind of list.
This was the question asked in one of the interviews.
Searched in many forums for the solution but could not find one,so thought this is the correct forum to post the code.
public List<?> removeDuplicate(List<?> listWithDuplicates) {
int[] intArray = new int[listWithDuplicates.size()];
int dupCount = 1;
int arrayIndex = 0;
int prevListIndex = 0; // to save previous listIndex value from intArray
int listIndex;
for (int i = 0; i < listWithDuplicates.size(); i++) {
for (int j = i + 1; j < listWithDuplicates.size(); j++) {
if (listWithDuplicates.get(j).equals(listWithDuplicates.get(i)))
dupCount++;
if (dupCount == 2) {
intArray[arrayIndex] = j; // Saving duplicate indexes to an array
arrayIndex++;
dupCount = 1;
}
}
}
Arrays.sort(intArray);
for (int k = intArray.length - 1; k >= 0; k--) {
listIndex = intArray[k];
if (listIndex != 0 && prevListIndex != listIndex){
listWithDuplicates.remove(listIndex);
prevListIndex = listIndex;
}
}
return listWithDuplicates;
}
I'm making this method remove() which takes a String word as argument, to delete from a global Array "words", but I keep getting a NullPointerException for some reason I cannot find, been stuck for hours.
Basically I check for if the word is in the first position, else if is in the last position, or else if it is in neither so I check all the array, and add the first half before the position of the word, and then add the second half after the position of the word in the array, as to skip it and "delete it". But I'm getting a NullPointerException in the for loop looking for the position of the word in the array. Code for the method is here:
public void remove(String a){
String[] temp_arr = new String[words.length-1]; // make array with 1 less length for deleted
if(words[0].equals(a)){ // if the word is the first in the array
for(int x=0, z=1; x<temp_arr.length; x++,z++)
temp_arr[x]=words[z];
words = temp_arr;
} else if(words[words.length-1].equals(a)){ // if the word is in the last position of the array
for(int x=0, z=0; x<temp_arr.length; x++,z++)
temp_arr[x] = words[z];
words = temp_arr;
} else{ // if the word is in neither first or last position of array
// THIS IS WHERE the exception is thrown, in this for loop, in the if(words[k].equals(a))
int k=0;
for (; k<words.length; k++){ // find the position of the word to delete
if (words[k].equals(a)) {
break;
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < k-1; i++){ // add first part of array before the word
temp_arr[i] = words[i];
}
for(int c = k, b = k+1; c< temp_arr.length; c++,b++){
temp_arr[c] = words[b];
}
words = temp_arr; // assign the new values to global array
}
}
Also, if theres any suggestions for good coding practice would be appreciated, thanks!
** I can only use Arrays as my data structure for this method.
Modify the condition like this
a.equals(words[0])
because you know the string value a. But dont know what value will come from array. So even null value comes from the array it does allow the null pointer exception.
I run your code and find a few errors, I correct somethings without changing the core idea:
} else { // if the word is in neither first or last position of array
// THIS IS WHERE the exception is thrown, in this for loop.
int k = -1;
for (int i = 0; i < words.length; i++) { // find the position of the word to delete
if (words[i].equals(a)) {
k=i;
break;
}
}
if(k<0)//if not exists
return;
for (int i = 0; i < k /*- 1*/; i++) { // add first part of array before the word
temp_arr[i] = words[i];
}
for (int i = k; i < temp_arr.length; i++) {
temp_arr[i] = words[i+1];
}
words = temp_arr; // assign the new values to global array
}
If the original array could't have null elements I would do like this:
public static String[] remove(String words[] , String a) {
int counter = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < words.length; i++) {
if( a.equals(words[i]) ){
words[i] = null;
counter++;
}
}
if(counter==0){
return words;
}
String[] words2 = new String[words.length - counter];
int i=0;
for (String string : words) {
if(string!=null){
words2[i++]=string;
}
}
return words2;
}
I would do that like this:
public void remove(String a) {
List<String> tmp = new ArrayList<String>();
for (String word : words) {
if ((word != null) && (word.equals(a))) {
continue;
}
tmp.add(word);
}
words = tmp.toArray(new String[]);
}
I have a question for you:
Why oh why are you using an array? You should always use a collection (eg a List) unless you absolutely have to use an array (which is rare indeed).
If it were a List, you wouldn't even need this method, because List has the remove() method that does all this for you!