Quick alternative to lots of if statements

Question

I'm beginner at java, and I'm making a simple program where I type in something, and if what I type in matches one of the things on the "database" then it'll print some text. Is there a simpler way to check this rather than doing this:

int 1;
int 2;
int 3;

etc.

if([USER INPUT].equals("1")) {
    System.out.println("TEST");
}

400 times.

Answer 1

Use a switch statement or a HashMap.

Switch statement: Readable, but compiles similarly (if not identically) to an if-else chain.

switch([USER_INPUT]) {
    case 1:
        System.out.println("TEST");
        break;
    case 2:
        System.out.println("HELLO");
        break;
    // And so on.
}

Hash Map: Much more readable and simpler. This is preferred.

// Initialization.
Map<Integer,String> map = new HashMap<Integer,String>();
map.put(1,"TEST");
map.put(2,"HELLO");

// Printing.
String s = map.get(USER_INPUT);
if (s == null)
    System.out.println("Key doesn't exist.");
System.out.println(s);