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Java Java Data Structures - Retired Exploring the Java Collection Framework Using ArrayLists

Posted by bkprojects
bkprojects
15,539 Points

Why did we change the return-type of the getWords() - method?

In our private method getWordsPrefixedWith(String prefix) we go through every word of the ArrayList that is returned by getWords(), but why did we change the return-type of getWords() in the first place? I struggle to see the advantage of 'for-each-looping' through an ArrayList vs. an Array (old getWords()-method returned String[] ). It should have O(n) in both cases, shouldn't it?

1 Answer

Tee Abdul
Tee Abdul
8,411 Points
Tee Abdul
Tee Abdul
8,411 Points

I think it was just for consistency (good coding practice). The other three methods (getMentions, getHashTags, and getWordsPrefixedWith) all return ArrayLists.