Question

I have two search loops for performing different operations, but I’m unhappy with how repetitive this looks.

The first method used to remove an item is as follows:

public void RemovePlayer(int theID){
    boolean matchFound = false;

    if (playerObjects.size() != 0){
        for (int i = 0; i < playerObjects.size(); i++){
            Person playerToRemove = (Person) playerObjects.get(i);
            if (playerToRemove.getID() == theID){
                playerObjects.remove(i);
                System.out.println("Player with ID # " + theID + " removed");
                matchFound = true;
                // As ID is unique, once a player is found it is unnecessary to continue looping
                break;
            }

            // If matchFound is never set to true then show appropriate error
            if (matchFound == false) {
                System.out.println("Player with ID # " + theID + " not found");
            }
        }
    }
    else {
        System.out.println("No players have been added.");    
    }
}

And the second method, which is essentially the same code, but performs a different action if a match is found is as follows:

public void RetrievePlayer(int theID){
    boolean matchFound = false;

    if (playerObjects.size() != 0){
        for (int i = 0; i < playerObjects.size(); i++){
            Person playerToRetrieve = (Person) playerObjects.get(i);
            if (playerToRetrieve.getID() == theID){
                System.out.println("PLAYER FOUND:");
                playerToRetrieve.GetDetails();
                matchFound = true;
                break;
            }

            // If matchFound is never set to true then show appropriate error
            if (matchFound == false) {
                System.out.println("Player with ID # " + theID + " not found");
            }
        }
    } else {
        System.out.println("No players have been added.");    
    }
}

How can I refactor this?

Answer 1

How about a method “FindPlayer” that returns the index i of the player? RemovePlayer and RetrievePlayer then just would be:

public void RemovePlayer(int theID){
    int playerId = FindPlayer(theID);
    if (playerId >= 0) {
        playerObjects.remove(playerId);
    }
}

public void RetrievePlayer(int theID){
    int playerId = FindPlayer(theID);
    if (playerId >= 0) {
        Person player = (Person) playerObjects.get(playerId);
        player.getDetails();
    }
}

That “FindPlayer” method would be somewhat like this:

protected int FindPlayer(int theID){
    if (playerObjects.size() != 0){
        for (int i = 0; i < playerObjects.size(); i++){
            Person player = (Person) playerObjects.get(i);
            if (player.getID() == theID){
                return i;
            }
        }

        System.out.println("Player with ID # " + theID + " not found");
    } else {
        System.out.println("No players have been added.");    
    }

    return -1;
}