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Java Java Data Structures Exploring the Java Collection Framework ArrayLists

Posted by jake denice
jake denice
86 Points

What Does this method do because I forgot what this reg expression is searching for. Please Help!

public String[] getWords() {
    return mBody.split("\\s+");
  }

What is " \sr " searching for? And what does split do in this method. Thanks!

com/example/BlogPost.java 
package com.example;

import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Date;

public class BlogPost implements Comparable<BlogPost>, Serializable {
  private String mAuthor;
  private String mTitle;
  private String mBody;
  private String mCategory;
  private Date mCreationDate;

  public BlogPost(String author, String title, String body, String category, Date creationDate) {
    mAuthor = author;
    mTitle = title;
    mBody = body;
    mCategory = category;
    mCreationDate = creationDate;
  }

  public int compareTo(BlogPost other) {
    if (equals(other)) {
      return 0;
    }
    return mCreationDate.compareTo(other.mCreationDate);
  }

  public String[] getWords() {
    return mBody.split("\\s+");
  }

  public String getAuthor() {
    return mAuthor;
  }

  public String getTitle() {
    return mTitle;
  }

  public String getBody() {
    return mBody;
  }

  public String getCategory() {
    return mCategory;
  }

  public Date getCreationDate() {
    return mCreationDate;
  }
}
Mike Papamichail
Mike Papamichail
4,883 Points
Mike Papamichail
Mike Papamichail
4,883 Points

Hey there!

This method uses the "\s+" regex to exclude the " "(blank spaces) from the String(mBody). So this method just splits the String based on the regex explained above and add all the words into a String[] array which it then returns to the caller.

If you'd like to try it out for yourself, head over to this website : http://www.ocpsoft.org/tutorials/regular-expressions/java-visual-regex-tester/

and just enter a random text and in the REGEX box enter : \s+ .You'll see how it works!

PS: If this helped you out let me know and make sure to mark it as a best answer so that others can benefit from this too!