I have this string array....
public static final String[][] cardNames = {
{"10","Blah"},
...
}
The data structure is the same for all records below that and all have a unique number value at the beginning (not related to their index). Id like to quickly find a record by that value without having to loop through the entire thing. Is that possible?
You should store this data in a Map<String,String> or Map<Integer,String> (since your keys are numerical Strings). That would make searching trivial.
Then searching for a value with a given unique key would be as simple as :
if (map.containsKey("504")) {
String value = map.get("504");
}
And the search would be performed in expected O(1) time.
You are looking for HashMap, since it is a unique number value you can use that as a key and use the get method of the HashMap to directly get the value without iterating on it.
sample:
Map<String,String> s = new HashMap<String,String>();
s.put("10","Blah"); //to put the data
if(s.get("10") != null)
s.get("10"); //to get the data without iterating.
If your value is a String array
Map<String,String[]> s = new HashMap<String,String[]>();
s.put("10",new String[]{"Blah","Blah2"}); //to put the String data array
if(s.get("10") != null)
{
String s1 = s.get("10")[0]; //to get the data in index 0 without iterating.
String s2 = s.get("10")[1]; //to get the data in index 1 without iterating.
}
Map<String,String> map = new HashMap<>() since Java 7 :)
Map