0

For class, I have to write a program using arrays where someone can look up popular baby names during a certain time frame. (Ex: The most popular boy and girl name from 1890-1910 is ....)

I think the program is decent, but it runs really slow. I don't know if it is just because of my code, or having a simple program look through a large file; but is there a way to speed up the process?

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.net.URL;

public class BabyNamesMainDriver {

// ===========================================================================================

private static void process(Scanner sc, String[] args) throws Exception {
    // The two arrays
    ArrayList<BabyNameClass> boys = new ArrayList<BabyNameClass>();
    ArrayList<BabyNameClass> girls = new ArrayList<BabyNameClass>();

    System.out.println("Enter a start year between 1880 and 2016:");// start year
    int startYear = sc.nextInt();
    if (startYear < 1880 || startYear > 2016)// Error check
        System.out.println("ERROR: Invalid start year.\n");
    else
        System.out.println("Enter a end year. Must be less then 2016 but greater than the start year :");// End year
    int endYear = sc.nextInt();
    if (endYear < 1880 || endYear > 2016)// Error check
        System.out.println("ERROR: Invalid end year. \n");
    else
        System.out.println("Enter the number of baby names to list. ");// Number of baby names
    int numOfNames = sc.nextInt();
    // if (topBabies <= 0);//Error Check
    // System.out.println("ERROR: Invalid number of names. \n");

    ReadBabyNames(startYear, endYear, boys, girls);// Reads file info

    // Header for top girl names
    System.out.print("\nTop " + numOfNames + " Girl names:\n");
    for (int i = 0; i < numOfNames; i++) {
        System.out.println(girls.get(i));
    }
    // Header for top boy names
    System.out.print("\nTop " + numOfNames + " Boy names:\n");
    for (int i = 0; i < numOfNames; i++) {
        System.out.println(boys.get(i));
    }
    sc.nextLine();
}

// ===========================================================================================

private static void ReadBabyNames(int startYear, int endYear, ArrayList<BabyNameClass> boys,
        ArrayList<BabyNameClass> girls) throws IOException, Exception {
    System.out.println("Please stand by...");

    for (int year = startYear; year <= endYear; year++) {
        @SuppressWarnings("resource")
        Scanner sc = new Scanner(
                new URL("https://cs.stcc.edu/~silvestri/babynames/yob" + year + ".txt").openStream());// file from
                                                                                                        // URL

        sc.useDelimiter("\\s*,\\s*|\\s+");

        while (sc.hasNextLine()) {
            String name = sc.next();
            String sex = sc.next();
            int number = sc.nextInt();
            sc.nextLine();
            BabyNameClass babies = new BabyNameClass(name, number);
            Collections.sort(boys);
            Collections.sort(girls);
            // Getting number of lil' babies
            if (sex.equalsIgnoreCase("F")) {
                int index = 1;
                index = girls.indexOf(babies);
                if (index == -1)
                    girls.add(babies);
                else
                    girls.get(index).addToAmount(number);
            } else {
                int index = 1;
                index = boys.indexOf(babies);
                if (index == -1)
                    boys.add(babies);
                else
                    boys.get(index).addToAmount(number);
            }
        }
    }
}
// ===========================================================================================

public static void main(String args[]) throws Exception {
    final String TITLE = "Baby Name Ranking";
    final String CONTINUE_PROMPT = "\nDo this again? [y/N] ";

    System.out.println("Welcome to " + TITLE);
    Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
    do {
        process(sc, args);
    } while (doThisAgain(sc, CONTINUE_PROMPT));
    sc.close();
    System.out.println("Thank you for using " + TITLE);
}
// ===========================================================================================

private static boolean doThisAgain(Scanner sc, String prompt) {
    System.out.print(prompt);
    String doOver = sc.nextLine();
    return doOver.equalsIgnoreCase("Y");
}

}

2nd class

public class BabyNameClass implements Comparable<BabyNameClass> {

// ==========================
private String name;
private int num;

// ===========================================================================================
public BabyNameClass(String name, int num) {
    this.name = name;
    this.num = num;
}

// ===========================================================================================
public String getName() {
    return this.name;
}

// ===========================================================================================
public int getNum() {
    return this.num;
}

// ===========================================================================================
public void addToAmount(int num) {
    this.num += num;
}

// ===========================================================================================
public void setAmount(int num) {
    this.num = num;
}

// ===========================================================================================

public boolean equals(Object lak) {
    if (lak == null)
        return false;
    if (this == lak)
        return true;
    if (getClass() != lak.getClass())
        return false;
    BabyNameClass Gu = (BabyNameClass) lak;
    if (name == null) {
        if (Gu.name != null)
            return false;
    } else if (!name.equals(Gu.name))
        return false;
    return true;
}

// ===========================================================================================
public int compareTo(BabyNameClass arg0) {
    if (this.num < arg0.num)
        return 1;
    if (this.num > arg0.num)
        return -1;
    if (this.name.compareTo(arg0.name) > 0)
        return 1;
    if (this.name.compareTo(arg0.name) < 0)
        return -1;

    else
        return 0;
}
// ===========================================================================================

public String toString() {
    return " " + this.num + " babies were named " + this.name;
}

}

1
  • For reference it takes about 2 seconds to load those text files in my browser. Some of the code might be able to be improved, but if you always have to load the text files over the wire, that's probably the bulk of the issue. Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 2:19

1 Answer 1

1

You're sorting two arraylists every single time you read a new line from the txt file. Why? Sorting is very cpu-intensive. Especially when those txt files you are using are huge.

Just try and move the sort out of the while loop.

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Omg, you're a genius. Thank you!

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.