Question

I have a set of values stored in Map/HashMap. Then I did a triple for loop to compare the values. The values are compared this way: First get the values for 0-1 then compare it to a set of values that starts with 1-x [1-2, 1-3,…1-n]. IF and ONLY IF the value of (e.g 0-1) is BIGGER THAN all the other values in the 1-x set value (e.g: 1-2, 1-3,…1-n), the IF-ELSE statement will trigger an event.

An example of the data is given in the code snippet below:

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class CompareSequence{

    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        Map<String, Integer> myMap = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
        myMap.put("0-1", 33);
        myMap.put("0-2", 29);
        myMap.put("0-3", 14);
        myMap.put("0-4", 8);
        myMap.put("1-2", 37);
        myMap.put("1-3", 45);
        myMap.put("1-4", 17);
        myMap.put("2-3", 1);
        myMap.put("2-4", 16);
        myMap.put("3-4", 18);

        for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
        {
            for(int j = i+1; j < 5; j++)
            {
                String testLine = i+"-"+j; 
                int itemA = myMap.get(testLine);

                for(int k = j+1; k < 5; k++)
                {
                    String newLine = j+"-"+k;
                    int itemB = myMap.get(newLine);

                    if(itemA > itemB)
                    {
                        //IF and ONLY all values of item A that is passed through is bigger than item B
                        //THEN trigger an event to group item B with A
                        System.out.println("Item A : " + itemA + " is bigger than item " 
                        +  newLine + " (" +itemB + ")"); // Printing out results to check the loop
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        System.out.println("Comparison failed: Item " + itemA + " is smaller than " + newLine + " (" + itemB + ")");
                    }
                }
            }       
        }                   
    }
}

Current Result:
Get main value for comparison: myMap.get(0-1) = 33

Get all values related to Key 1-x (set value) ..
myMap.get(1-2) = 37 // This value is bigger than myMap.get(0-1) = 33
myMap.get(1-3) = 45 // This value is bigger than myMap.get(0-1) = 33
myMap.get(1-4) = 17 // This value is smaller than myMap.get(0-1) = 33

In that example given, the IF-ELSE statement should not let it pass, ONLY if all are smaller than 33, should an event be triggered. Is there something different I should do to the IF-ELSE statement or is there a problem with my loop?

Desired Result: 

If((myMap.get(0-1) > myMap.get(1-2)) && (myMap.get(0-1) > myMap.get(1-3)) && (myMap.get(0-1) > myMap.get(1-4))...(myMap.get(0-1) > myMap.get(1-n))
{
    //Trigger event to group all set values 1-x to value key 0-1
    //Then delete all set valued related to 1-x from list
}

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

You could try something like this:

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
    for (int j = i + 1; j < 5; j++) {
        String testLine = i + "-" + j;
        int itemA = myMap.get(testLine);

        boolean greaterThanAll = true;

        for (int k = j + 1; k < 5; k++) {
            String newLine = j + "-" + k;
            int itemB = myMap.get(newLine);

            if (itemA <= itemB) {
                System.out.println("Comparison failed: Item " + itemA + " is smaller than " + newLine + " (" + itemB + ")");
                greaterThanAll = false;
                break;
            } else {
                System.out.println("Item A : " + itemA + " is bigger than item "
                        + newLine + " (" + itemB + ")"); // Printing out results to check the loop
            }
        }
        if (greaterThanAll) {
            System.out.println(testLine + "=" + itemA + " is greater than all");
            //IF and ONLY all values of item A that is passed through is bigger than item B
            //THEN trigger an event to group item B with A
        }
    }
}