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What's a cleaner way to write this Java code or optimize it to build a string from an ArrayList?

I'm creating a java scraping program using selenium and inserting the data into a database. I'm actively looking to improve my skillset but I don't find instructional videos too helpful since I lose interest, but I really enjoy learning through doing. This code below works as needed, but it looks really really ugly and I feel there must be a better/cleaner solution. For reference it builds a comma separated string with data such as "Value1", or "Value1, Value2", etc depending on the keyword count. My original logic was outputting ", Value1, Value2" which is why I added the "if (x ==0)" logic. I have a lot of methods that are just sloppy like this, so any pointers for improving my code is appreciated, thanks!
ArrayList<String> keywords = new ArrayList<String>();
keywords = keywordChecker(title);
for (int x = 0; x < keywords.size(); x++) {
String list = keywords.get(x);
if (x == 0) {
keywordListBuilder = list;
} else if (x > 0) {
keywordListBuilder = keywordListBuilder + ", " + list;
}
}
keywordValues.add(keywordListBuilder);
public ArrayList<String> keywordChecker(String title) {
ArrayList<String> keywordList = new ArrayList<String>();
String keyword1 = "";
String keyword2 = "";
String keyword3 = "";
String[] keywordTextCombinations = { "Value1", "Value2", "Value3", [imagine a list of 20 items]};
for (int i = 0; i < keywordTextCombinations.length; i++) {
if (title.toLowerCase().contains(keywordTextCombinations[i].toLowerCase())) {
keyword1 = keywordTextCombinations[i];
keywordList.add(keyword1);
break;
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < keywordTextCombinations.length; i++) {
if (title.toLowerCase().contains(keywordTextCombinations[i].toLowerCase())
&& !keywordTextCombinations[i].toLowerCase().equals(keyword1.toLowerCase())
&& !keywordTextCombinations[i].toLowerCase().equals(keyword2.toLowerCase())) {
keyword2 = keywordTextCombinations[i];
keywordList.add(keyword2);
break;
}
}
for (int i = 0; i < keywordTextCombinations.length; i++) {
if (title.toLowerCase().contains(keywordTextCombinations[i].toLowerCase())
&& !keywordTextCombinations[i].toLowerCase().equals(keyword1.toLowerCase())
&& !keywordTextCombinations[i].toLowerCase().equals(keyword2.toLowerCase())) {
keyword3 = keywordTextCombinations[i];
keywordList.add(keyword3);
break;
}
}
return keywordList;
}

ArrayList<String> keywords = new ArrayList<String>();
keywords = keywordChecker(title);
This will:
Create a new variable, named keywords, that can point at arraylists.
Makes a new arraylist object.
Assigns the reference to this newly created object to the keywords variable.
Then tosses that reference away and makes that created object instant garbage, as you then immediately assign some other reference to it.
In other words, that new ArrayList<String>(); does nothing whatsoever but waste time and space. Get rid of it. Let's also be like other java coders and use the most general type that we're interested in. For beginners, that basically means, 'the variable should be of type List, not ArrayList. It's good to write code in similar style to other java coders; makes it easier to read their code and it makes it easier for them to read your code.
List<String> keywords = keywordChecker(title);
for (int x = 0; x < keywords.size(); x++) {
String list = keywords.get(x);
if (x == 0) {
keywordListBuilder = list;
} else if (x > 0) {
keywordListBuilder = keywordListBuilder + ", " + list;
}
}
keywordValues.add(keywordListBuilder);
You're getting a single keyword and you call this list? Names are important. When they lie, your code becomes unreadable.
You're turning a list of strings into a single string with all the values, separated by a comma. That sounds like a common job. When something sounds common enough, search the web. You'll usually find that there's a one-liner. So it is here:
keywordValues.add(String.join(", ", keywords));
Oof, that's way less code.
The keywordChecker method
It helps to document code, especially when asking for help. Evidently, this method is to scan the provided title variable, and search for any of a list of keywords, then it is to return each matching keyword. However, you've limited to return at most 3. I assume you didn't want that. But if you do, I'll show you how, with a one-liner of course.
String keyword1 = "";
String keyword2 = "";
String keyword3 = "";
When you start naming variables like this, stop. There's no way that's correct. Think for a moment. You're already using them, you know how to do this properly: Lists. Once you use a list, this becomes near trivial. Also, method names should generally be a verb; common java style. Let's also make constants, well, constant. Let's also avoid arrays, they are unwieldy and annoying.
private static final List<String> KEYWORDS = List.of("Value1", "Value2", "Value3", [imagine a list of 20 items]);
public List<String> findMatchingKeywords(String title) {
var out = new ArrayList<String>();
String lowercased = title.toLowerCase();
for (String keyword : KEYWORDS) {
if (lowercased.contains(keyword.toLowerCase()) out.add(keyword);
}
return out;
}
That eliminated a ton of lines, that's nice. If you want to return no more than 3 keywords at most... all you need to do is abort looping when you're 'full'. As last line within the for loop:
if (out.length() == 3) break;
Putting it all together:
keywordValues.add(String.join(", ", findMatchingKeywords(title)));
...
private static final List<String> KEYWORDS = List.of("Value1", "Value2", "Value3", [imagine a list of 20 items]);
public List<String> findMatchingKeywords(String title) {
var out = new ArrayList<String>();
String lowercased = title.toLowerCase();
for (String keyword : KEYWORDS) {
if (lowercased.contains(keyword.toLowerCase()) {
out.add(keyword);
if (out.length() == 3) break;
}
}
return out;
}

You can try to do everything in one for loop. Also, I recommend that you use a HashSet since you are comparing elements. A HashSet cannot contain duplicate elements, so if you try to add an element that already exists it doesn't do it and it returns false (Yes, the add function in HashSet returns a boolean).

I want to combine the string from the scanner to list it as a class, if that makes sense [duplicate]

Example code:
int width = 5;
int area = 8;
int potato = 2;
int stackOverflow = -4;
Now, say I want to have the user input a string:
String input = new Scanner(System.in).nextLine();
Then, say the user inputs potato. How would I retrieve the variable named potato and do stuff with it? Something like this:
System.getVariable(input); //which will be 2
System.getVariable("stackOverflow"); //should be -4
I looked up some things and did not find much; I did find a reference to something called "the Reflection API," but that seems too complicated for this one simple task.
Is there a way to do this, and if so, what is it? If "Reflection" does indeed work and if it is the only way, then how would I use it to do this? The tutorial page for it has all sorts of internal stuff that I can't make any sense of.
EDIT: I need to keep the Strings in the variables for what I am doing. (I can't use a Map)

Using reflection doesn't seem like a good design for what you're doing here. It would be better to use a Map<String, Integer> for example:
static final Map<String, Integer> VALUES_BY_NAME;
static {
final Map<String, Integer> valuesByName = new HashMap<>();
valuesByName.put("width", 5);
valuesByName.put("potato", 2);
VALUES_BY_NAME = Collections.unmodifiableMap(valuesByName);
}
Or with Guava:
static final ImmutableMap<String, Integer> VALUES_BY_NAME = ImmutableMap.of(
"width", 5,
"potato", 2
);
Or with an enum:
enum NameValuePair {
WIDTH("width", 5),
POTATO("potato", 2);
private final String name;
private final int value;
private NameValuePair(final String name, final int value) {
this.name = name;
this.value = value;
}
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public String getValue() {
return value;
}
static NameValuePair getByName(final String name) {
for (final NameValuePair nvp : values()) {
if (nvp.getName().equals(name)) {
return nvp;
}
}
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid name: " + name);
}
}

Variable names are only available at compiler time. Reflection only gives access to class declarations and items declared inside them, but not to local variables. I suspect that a Map of some kind will be a more appropriate solution to your real problem. Specifically, check out HashMap and TreeMap.

Instead of trying to find the value of a variable name, why don't you use a Map with a key/value pair?
Map<String, Integer> vars = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
vars.put("width",5);
vars.put("area",8);
vars.put("potato", 2);
vars.put("stackOverflow",-4);
Then you could access the inputs like so:
vars.get(input); //would be 2
vars.get("stackOverflow"); //would be -4

I have another solution without a map :
class Vars {
Integer potato, stack;
public Vars(a,b) {
potato=a;
stack=b;
}
}
Object object=(Object)new Vars(1,2);
Class<?> c = object.getClass();
Integer result=(Integer)c.getField("potato").get(object);

I have a solution for this problem that does not involve using a map. I ran into this technique because we had several variables that needed to be update based on something within the variable name itself. However, the best way to do this is by using the getters/setters rather than the variables.
After you create your class, you can access the methods by creating Method objects and invoking them individually.
public class FooClass
private String foo1;
private String foo2;
public String getFoo1();
public String getFoo2();
FooClass fooClass = new FooClass();
Method mFoo1 = fooClass.getClass().getMethod("getFoo" + increment + "()");
mFoo1 .invoke(fooClass);
However, this would not be limited to only incremental numbers, as long as you can get the string to match the method exactly.
String value = "Potato";
Method mPotato = myClass.getClass().getMethod("get" + value+ "()");
mPotato.invoke(myClass);

Very redundant, but you can keep your variable names when using a map:
int width = 5;
int area = 8;
int potato = 2;
int stackOverflow = -4;
Map<String, Integer> map = new HashMap<>();
map.put("width", width);
map.put("area", area);
map.put("potato", potato);
map.put("stackOverflow", stackOverflow);
But a statement like this:
width = 42;
would not change the value in the Map:
String input = "width";
map.get(input); // <-- still returns 5.
Only a new call of put fixes that:
width = 42;
map.put("width", width);
// or
map.put("width", 42);

Java String value as part of statement?

I have a class declared to hold information. Let's say it has these fields
class data {
int a;
int b;
int c;
}
And I want to access these fields like this:
String [] fields = {"a", "b", "c"};
data da = new data();
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
if (da.fields[i] < 10)
dosomething();
Is there any way in Java to do this? Googling, I got some results about something called "reflection, " but I've never really heard of that, and I don't think it's quite what I want. Is there any way to do this in Java? If not, are there any languages that support this kind of thing (just out of curiosity)?

Reflection is probably what you need. But what you need more is a hard look at your design. You should avoid reflection where possible.
If you are still interested in doing this, take a look at Java Reflection: Fields.
Field field = aClass.getField("someField");
Is what you would do to get the field by that name. A more detailed example of what you want.
Class aClass = MyObject.class
Field field = aClass.getField("someField");
MyObject objectInstance = new MyObject();
Object value = field.get(objectInstance);
field.set(objetInstance, value);

You could add a suitable API to your class:
class data {
int a;
int b;
int c;
int get(String field) {
if (field.equals("a")) return a;
if (field.equals("b")) return b;
if (field.equals("c")) return c;
throw new IllegalArgumentException();
}
}
Then you could:
String [] fields = {"a", "b", "c"};
data da = new data();
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
if (da.get(fields[i]) < 10)
dosomething();

Reflection is the way to go. Karthik T has the correct answer.
Without using reflection:
Declare the fields to be an array (or a Map), and the names as lookups:
class data {
int[] fields = new int[3];
public static final int A = 0;
public static final int B = 1;
public static final int C = 2;
}
public void foo() {
data da = new data();
int[] fields = {data.A, data.B, data.C};
for (int n : fields) {
if (da.fields[n] < 10) doSomething();
}
}
Its ugly, and your design is probably wrong if you want to do something like this, but it works.

You don't really say what's your real problem; so it's hard to say if using reflection or something else is what you need. However, when someone talk about associating a string value with another variable, what they often need to use is a Map (or a dictionary in other languages); something along the line of:
TreeMap<String, Integer> tm = new TreeMap<String, Integer>();
tm.put("a", 1);
tm.put("b", 2);
tm.put("c", 3);
for (String k: tm.keySet()) {
System.out.println(k + ": " + tm.get(k));
}

Java Parsing Using Hmap

I am new to Java. I want to Parse the data which is in this Format
Apple;Mango;Orange:1234;Orange:1244;...;
There could be more than one "Orange" at any point of time. Numbers (1,2...) increase and accordingly as the "Orange".
Okay. After splitting it, Lets assume I have stored the first two data(Apple, Orange) in a variable(in setter) to return the same in the getter function. And now I want to add the value(1234,1244....etc) in the 'orange' thing into a variable to return it later. Before that i have to check how many oranges have come. For that, i know i have to use for loop. But don't know how to store the "Value" into a variable.
Please Help me guys.

String input = "Apple;Mango;Orange:1234;Orange:1244;...;"
String values[] = input.split(";");
String value1 = values[0];
String value2 = values[1];
Hashmap< String, ArrayList<String> > map = new HashMap<String, ArrayList<String>>();
for(int i = 2; i < values.length; i = i + 2){
String key = values[i];
String id = values[i+1];
if (map.get(key) == null){
map.put(key, new ArrayList<String>());
}
map.get(key).add(id);
}
//for any key s:
// get the values of s
map.get(s); // returns a list of all values added
// get the count of s
map.get(s).size(); // return the total number of values.

Let me try to rephrase the question by how I interpreted it and -- more importantly -- how it focuses on the input and output (expectations), not the actual implementation:
I need to parse the string
"Apple;Mango;Orange:1234;Orange:1244;...;"
in a way so I can retrieve the values associated (numbers after ':') with the fruits:
I should receive an empty list for both the Apple and Mango in the example, because they have no value;
I should receive a list of 1234, 1244 for Orange.
Of course your intuition of HashMap is right on the spot, but someone may always present a better solution if you don't get too involved with the specifics.
There are a few white spots left:
Should the fruits without values have a default value given?
Should the fruits without values be in the map at all?
How input errors should be handled?
How duplicate values should be handled?
Given this context, we can start writing code:
import java.util.*;
public class FruitMarker {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String input = "Apple;Mango;Orange:1234;Orange:1244";
// replace with parameter processing from 'args'
// avoid direct implementations in variable definitions
// also observe the naming referring to the function of the variable
Map<String, Collection<Integer>> fruitIds = new HashMap<String, Collection<Integer>>();
// iterate through items by splitting
for (String item : input.split(";")) {
String[] fruitAndId = item.split(":"); // this will return the same item in an array, if separator is not found
String fruitName = fruitAndId[0];
boolean hasValue = fruitAndId.length > 1;
Collection<Integer> values = fruitIds.get(fruitName);
// if we are accessing the key for the first time, we have to set its value
if (values == null) {
values = new ArrayList<Integer>(); // here I can use concrete implementation
fruitIds.put(fruitName, values); // be sure to put it back in the map
}
if (hasValue) {
int fruitValue = Integer.parseInt(fruitAndId[1]);
values.add(fruitValue);
}
}
// display the entries in table iteratively
for (Map.Entry<String, Collection<Integer>> entry : fruitIds.entrySet()) {
System.out.println(entry.getKey() + " => " + entry.getValue());
}
}
}
If you execute this code, you will get the following output:
Mango => []
Apple => []
Orange => [1234, 1244]

simple question: how to pull out some info from an object in Java

I'm working in java, and I have a method that returns a pair, ie. (String, integer). At a different point in the program, I want to pull out the String alone. How do I do that?
Thanks.

add another method returning the String only and use that at the mentioned different point in your program

If you build an object, you can easily get a value from object like getString() (private case) : newString = p1.getString ;

How are you returning a pair? It might be with an object, or an array.
If it's an object you're returning, it probably looks like this...
public ResultObject MyMethod() {
String s = "foo";
int i = 42;
return new ResultObject(s, i);
}
public class ResultObject() {
public String s;
public int i;
public ResultObject(String s, int i) {
this.s = s;
this.i = i;
}
}
And you can access the result like this
ResultObject r = MyMethod();
System.out.println(r.s); // "foo"
System.out.println(r.i); // "42"
If it's an array you're returning, it probably looks like this...
public Object[] MyMethod() {
String s = "foo";
int i = 42;
return new Object[] { s, i };
}
And you can access the result like this
Object[] r = MyMethod();
System.out.println(r[0]); // "foo"
System.out.println(r[1]); // "42"
Returning a result object is preferable, because the array causes you to rely on the order of the results, is less descriptive when you access the result objects (r[0] versus r.somename), is prone to out-of-bounds exceptions, and is not typed (you'll have to cast your result objects to the type they're supposed to be).

Object[] method(int param1, int param2){
//do something
return new Object[]{"string", 1};
}
....
String value = (String)obj.method(param1, param2)[0];

For more than a return using a Map in return.
Para mais de um retorno utilize um Map como retorno.
public Map<String, Integer> method(){
Map<String,Integer> map = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
String s = "foo";
Integer i = 99;
map.put(s,i);
return map;
}