Check if a value exists in ArrayList

How can I check if a value that is written in scanner exists in an ArrayList?

List<CurrentAccount> lista = new ArrayList<CurrentAccount>();

CurrentAccount conta1 = new CurrentAccount("Alberto Carlos", 1052);
CurrentAccount conta2 = new CurrentAccount("Pedro Fonseca", 30);
CurrentAccount conta3 = new CurrentAccount("Ricardo Vitor", 1534);
CurrentAccount conta4 = new CurrentAccount("João Lopes", 3135);

lista.add(conta1);
lista.add(conta2);
lista.add(conta3);
lista.add(conta4);

Collections.sort(lista);

System.out.printf("Bank Accounts:" + "%n");
Iterator<CurrentAccount> itr = lista.iterator();
while (itr.hasNext()) {
    CurrentAccount element = itr.next();
    System.out.printf(element + " " + "%n");
}
System.out.println();

Solution 1:

Just use ArrayList.contains(desiredElement). For example, if you're looking for the conta1 account from your example, you could use something like:

if (lista.contains(conta1)) {
    System.out.println("Account found");
} else {
    System.out.println("Account not found");
}

Edit: Note that in order for this to work, you will need to properly override the equals() and hashCode() methods. If you are using Eclipse IDE, then you can have these methods generated by first opening the source file for your CurrentAccount object and the selecting Source > Generate hashCode() and equals()...

Solution 2:

Better to use a HashSet than an ArrayList when you are checking for existence of a value. Java docs for HashSet says: "This class offers constant time performance for the basic operations (add, remove, contains and size)"

ArrayList.contains() might have to iterate the whole list to find the instance you are looking for.

Solution 3:

Please refer to my answer on this post.

There is no need to iterate over the List just overwrite the equals method.

Use equals instead of ==

@Override
public boolean equals (Object object) {
    boolean result = false;
    if (object == null || object.getClass() != getClass()) {
        result = false;
    } else {
        EmployeeModel employee = (EmployeeModel) object;
        if (this.name.equals(employee.getName()) && this.designation.equals(employee.getDesignation())   && this.age == employee.getAge()) {
            result = true;
        }
    }
    return result;
}

Call it like this:

public static void main(String args[]) {

    EmployeeModel first = new EmployeeModel("Sameer", "Developer", 25);
    EmployeeModel second = new EmployeeModel("Jon", "Manager", 30);
    EmployeeModel third = new EmployeeModel("Priyanka", "Tester", 24);

    List<EmployeeModel> employeeList = new ArrayList<EmployeeModel>();
    employeeList.add(first);
    employeeList.add(second);
    employeeList.add(third);

    EmployeeModel checkUserOne = new EmployeeModel("Sameer", "Developer", 25);
    System.out.println("Check checkUserOne is in list or not");
    System.out.println("Is checkUserOne Preasent = ? " + employeeList.contains(checkUserOne));

    EmployeeModel checkUserTwo = new EmployeeModel("Tim", "Tester", 24);
    System.out.println("Check checkUserTwo is in list or not");
    System.out.println("Is checkUserTwo Preasent = ? " + employeeList.contains(checkUserTwo));

}