How can I verify that an array of strings contain a certain string? [duplicate]
Convert the array of valid directions to a list:
List valid = Arrays.asList(directions)Or just declare it directly as:
List valid = Arrays.asList("UP", "DOWN", "RIGHT", "LEFT", "up", "down", "right", "left")You can then use the contains method:
if (valid.contains(input)) { // is valid} else { // not valid}Note that this won't match a mixed case input such as "Up" so you might want to store just the uppercase values in the list and then use valid.contains(input.toUpperCase())
Unfortunately, Java does not have an Arrays.indexOf() method. Your best bet is to write a little utility to do a simple linear search. Or you could convert to an ArrayList (see Arrays.asList()) and call indexOf() or contains().
If the array is large and speed is a concern, you could sort the array, and then use Arrays.binarySearch().