Checking if String x equals any of the Strings from String[]

Question

I am trying to set a boolean true if a user-entered string equals any of the strings from a string array.

I have improvised and came up with this

String[] cancelWords = {"cancel", "nevermind", "scratch that"};
boolean valueEqualsCancel = true;
for(String cancelWord : cancelWords) {
  if(!valueEqualsCancel) break;
  valueEqualsCancel =  valueEqualsCancel && value.equals(cancelWord);
}

But valueEqualsCancel is never true.

Any tips?

Answer 1

You can do something like:

Arrays.asList(cancelWords).contains(value)

(see Arrays.asList())

If you're going to be doing multiple queries like this, then put all of your words in a Set and query that.

Answer 2

Convert the Array to a List and then use the contains method to check.

Arrays.asList(cancelWords).contains(value)

Answer 3

Here is a 2-liner using Java 8 that is easy to read:

String[] cancelWords = {"cancel", "nevermind", "scratch that"};
boolean valueEqualsCancel = Arrays.stream(cancelWords).anyMatch(value::equals);