Is there clean syntax for checking if multiple variables all have the same value?

Question

We have n variables X = {x1,x2,...xn} they are not in any structures whatsoever.

In python for example I can do that: if (x1 == x2 == x3 == xn):

In java I must do: if((x1 == x2) && (x2 == x3) && (x3 == xn)):

Do you know a simple way to improve this syntax? (Imagine very long variable name and lot of them)

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you have lots of these variables, have you considered putting them in a collection instead of having them as separate variables? There are various options at that point.

If you find yourself doing this a lot, you might want to write helper methods, possibly using varargs syntax. For example:

public static boolean areAllEqual(int... values) {     if (values.length == 0)     {         return true; // Alternative below     }     int checkValue = values[0];     for (int i = 1; i < values.length; i++)     {         if (values[i] != checkValue)         {             return false;         }     }     return true; } 

An alternative as presented by glowcoder is to force there to be at least one value:

public static boolean areAllEqual(int checkValue, int... otherValues) {     for (int value : otherValues)     {         if (value != checkValue)         {             return false;         }     }     return true; } 

In either case, use with:

if (HelperClass.areAllEqual(x1, x2, x3, x4, x5)) {     ... } 

Answer 2

You could create a utility method like this:

public boolean allEqual(Object... objs) {     if(objs.length < 2) return true; // 0 or 1 objects are all equal     Object key = objs[0]; // pick one     for(Object o : objs) if(!o.equals(key)) return false;     return true; } 

Another option would be

public boolean allEqual(Object key, Object... objs) {     for(Object o : objs) if(!o.equals(key)) return false;     return true; } 

To simplify a lot of boilerplate logic. Then just go

if(allEqual(x,x1,x2,x3)) 

Obviously the two are mutually exclusive (they are signaturely ambigous) but you could have allEqual and allEqualWithKey