Refactoring lots of if statements

Question

So I have a project to make a random-name generator, and currently I have prefixes and suffixes being selected by: A) The amount of letters in the person's first name, and B) The first and last letter of their name.

The code currently functions as expected, I'd just like to refine the code and hopefully remove the hundreds of lines that have thousands of if statements.

import java.util.*;
public class ranName 
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        String input, firstName, lastName;
        String firstPre, firstSuff, lastPre, lastSuff, lSuffMean, lPreMean, fLastLet, fFirstLet, lLastLet, lFirstLet;

        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);

        System.out.println("Welcome to the Lord Of The Rings Elf name Generator!");
        System.out.println("------------------------------------------------");
        System.out.println("");
        System.out.print("First Name: ");
        firstName = sc.nextLine();

        while (true)
        {   
            System.out.println("------------------------------------------------");
            System.out.println("You inserted " + firstName);
            System.out.println("Are you sure?");
            System.out.print("Y/N: ");
            input = sc.nextLine();
            System.out.println("------------------------------------------------");
            if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("Y"))
            {
                break;
            }    
            else if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("N"))
            {
                System.out.print("First Name: ");
                firstName = sc.nextLine();
            }
            else
            { 
                System.out.println("Oh well, you tried. Here's another go at it."); 
            }
        }

        System.out.print("Last Name: ");
        lastName = sc.nextLine();

        while (true)
        {   
            System.out.println("------------------------------------------------");
            System.out.println("You inserted " + lastName);
            System.out.println("Are you sure?");
            System.out.print("Y/N: ");
            input = sc.nextLine();
            System.out.println("------------------------------------------------");
            if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("Y"))
            {
                break;
            }    
            else if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("N"))
            {
                System.out.print("Last Name: ");
                lastName = sc.nextLine();
            }
            else
            { 
                System.out.println("Oh well, you tried. Here's another go at it."); 
            }
        }
        System.out.print("Your Elf Name: ");

        firstPre = preGet(firstName);
        firstSuff = suffGet(firstName);


        lastPre = housePreGet(lastName);
        lastSuff = houseSuffGet(lastName);

        lPreMean = preMean(lastPre);
        lSuffMean = suffMean(lastSuff);

        fLastLet = String.valueOf(firstPre.charAt(firstPre.length()-1));
        fFirstLet = String.valueOf(firstSuff.charAt(0));

        lLastLet = String.valueOf(lastPre.charAt(lastPre.length()-1));
        lFirstLet = String.valueOf(lastSuff.charAt(0));

        if (fFirstLet.equals(fLastLet))
        {
            firstSuff = (firstSuff.substring(1));
        }

        if (lFirstLet.equals(lLastLet))
        {
            lastSuff = (lastSuff.substring(1));
        }

        System.out.println(firstPre + firstSuff + " " + lastPre + lastSuff);
        System.out.println("");
        System.out.println("------------------------------------------------");
        System.out.println("The House Name (lastname) Translates to: " + lPreMean + " " + lSuffMean);
        System.out.println("------------------------------------------------");
    }

public static String preGet(String fN)
{
    String[] namePre;
    String fNN, fL;
    fNN = fN.trim();
    int fnCount = fNN.length();
    fL = String.valueOf(fNN.charAt(0));
    namePre = new String[53];
    namePre[0] = "PlaceHolder";
    namePre[1] = "Ael";
    namePre[2] = "Aer";
    namePre[3] = "Bael";  
    namePre[4] = "Bes";
    namePre[5] = "Cael";
    namePre[6] = "Cor";
    namePre[7] = "Dae";
    namePre[8] = "Dre";
    namePre[9] = "Eil";
    namePre[10] = "Ev";
    namePre[11] = "Fir";
    namePre[12] = "Fis";
    namePre[13] = "Gael";
    namePre[14] = "Gil";
    namePre[15] = "Ha";
    namePre[16] = "Hu";
    namePre[17] = "Ia";
    namePre[18] = "Il";
    namePre[19] = "Ja";
    namePre[20] = "Jar";
    namePre[21] = "Kan";
    namePre[22] = "Kor";
    namePre[23] = "La";
    namePre[24] = "Lue";
    namePre[25] = "Mai";
    namePre[26] = "Mara";
    namePre[27] = "Na";
    namePre[28] = "Nim";
    namePre[29] = "Ol";
    namePre[30] = "Onn";
    namePre[31] = "Py";
    namePre[32] = "Pael";
    namePre[33] = "Qu";
    namePre[34] = "Qi";
    namePre[35] = "Rum";
    namePre[36] = "Rua";
    namePre[37] = "Sae";
    namePre[38] = "Sha";
    namePre[39] = "Tahl";
    namePre[40] = "Thro";
    namePre[41] = "Ul";
    namePre[42] = "Uon";
    namePre[43] = "Ver";
    namePre[44] = "Vil";
    namePre[45] = "Wuo";
    namePre[46] = "Waal";
    namePre[47] = "Xae";
    namePre[48] = "Xen";
    namePre[49] = "Ya";
    namePre[50] = "Yae"; 
    namePre[51] = "Za";
    namePre[52] = "Zy";

    if (fnCount % 2 == 0)
    {
        if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("A"))
        {
            return namePre[1];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("B"))
        {
            return namePre[3];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("C"))
        {
            return namePre[5];  
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("D"))
        {
            return namePre[7];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("E"))
        {
            return namePre[9];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("F"))
        {
            return namePre[11];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("G"))
        {
            return namePre[13];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("H"))
        {
            return namePre[15];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("I"))
        {
            return namePre[17];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("J"))
        {
            return namePre[19];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("K"))
        {
            return namePre[21];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("L"))
        {
            return namePre[23];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("M"))
        {
            return namePre[25];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("N"))
        {
            return namePre[27];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("O"))
        {
            return namePre[29];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("P"))
        {
            return namePre[31];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Q"))
        {
            return namePre[33];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("R"))
        {
            return namePre[35];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("S"))
        {
            return namePre[37];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("T"))
        {
            return namePre[39];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("U"))
        {
            return namePre[41];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("V"))
        {
            return namePre[43];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("W"))
        {
            return namePre[45];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("X"))
        {
            return namePre[47];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Y"))
        {
            return namePre[49];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Z"))
        {
            return namePre[51];
        }
    }
    else
    {
        if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("A"))
        {
            return namePre[2];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("B"))
        {
            return namePre[4];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("C"))
        {
            return namePre[6];  
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("D"))
        {
            return namePre[8];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("E"))
        {
            return namePre[10];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("F"))
        {
            return namePre[12];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("G"))
        {
            return namePre[14];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("H"))
        {
            return namePre[16];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("I"))
        {
            return namePre[18];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("J"))
        {
            return namePre[20];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("K"))
        {
            return namePre[22];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("L"))
        {
            return namePre[24];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("M"))
        {
            return namePre[26];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("N"))
        {
            return namePre[28];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("O"))
        {
            return namePre[30];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("P"))
        {
            return namePre[32];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Q"))
        {
            return namePre[34];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("R"))
        {
            return namePre[36];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("S"))
        {
            return namePre[38];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("T"))
        {
            return namePre[40];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("U"))
        {
            return namePre[42];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("V"))
        {
            return namePre[44];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("W"))
        {
            return namePre[46];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("X"))
        {
            return namePre[48];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Y"))
        {
            return namePre[50];
        }   
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Z"))
        {
            return namePre[52];
        }  
    }
    return ""; 
}
public static String suffGet(String fN)
{
    String[] nameSuff;
    String fNN, fL;
    fNN = fN.trim();
    int fnCount = fNN.length();
    fL = String.valueOf(fNN.charAt(fNN.length()-1));
    nameSuff = new String[53];
    nameSuff[0] = "placeholder";
    nameSuff[1] = "ae";
    nameSuff[2] = "aith";
    nameSuff[3] = "brar";  
    nameSuff[4] = "bael";
    nameSuff[5] = "cael";
    nameSuff[6] = "con";
    nameSuff[7] = "drimme";
    nameSuff[8] = "dul";
    nameSuff[9] = "emar";
    nameSuff[10] = "evar";
    nameSuff[11] = "fel";
    nameSuff[12] = "faen";
    nameSuff[13] = "gael";
    nameSuff[14] = "gin";
    nameSuff[15] = "hal";
    nameSuff[16] = "har";
    nameSuff[17] = "ii";
    nameSuff[18] = "im";
    nameSuff[19] = "jin";
    nameSuff[20] = "jaal";
    nameSuff[21] = "ki";
    nameSuff[22] = "kas";
    nameSuff[23] = "lian";
    nameSuff[24] = "lihn";
    nameSuff[25] = "mah";
    nameSuff[26] = "'mek";
    nameSuff[27] = "nes";
    nameSuff[28] = "'nil";
    nameSuff[29] = "onna";
    nameSuff[30] = "oth";
    nameSuff[31] = "pae";
    nameSuff[32] = "pek";
    nameSuff[33] = "'que";
    nameSuff[34] = "quis";
    nameSuff[35] = "ruil";
    nameSuff[36] = "reth";
    nameSuff[37] = "san";
    nameSuff[38] = "sel";
    nameSuff[39] = "thal";
    nameSuff[40] = "thus";
    nameSuff[41] = "ual";
    nameSuff[42] = "uath";
    nameSuff[43] = "vain";
    nameSuff[44] = "vin";
    nameSuff[45] = "wyn";
    nameSuff[46] = "waal";
    nameSuff[47] = "'xe";
    nameSuff[48] = "'xol";
    nameSuff[49] = "yth";
    nameSuff[50] = "yl"; 
    nameSuff[51] = "zair";
    nameSuff[52] = "zara";

    if (fnCount % 2 != 0)
    {
        if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("A"))
        {
            return nameSuff[1];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("B"))
        {
            return nameSuff[3];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("C"))
        {
            return nameSuff[5];  
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("D"))
        {
            return nameSuff[7];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("E"))
        {
            return nameSuff[9];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("F"))
        {
            return nameSuff[11];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("G"))
        {
            return nameSuff[13];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("H"))
        {
            return nameSuff[15];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("I"))
        {
            return nameSuff[17];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("J"))
        {
            return nameSuff[19];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("K"))
        {
            return nameSuff[21];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("L"))
        {
            return nameSuff[23];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("M"))
        {
            return nameSuff[25];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("N"))
        {
            return nameSuff[27];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("O"))
        {
            return nameSuff[29];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("P"))
        {
            return nameSuff[31];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Q"))
        {
            return nameSuff[33];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("R"))
        {
            return nameSuff[35];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("S"))
        {
            return nameSuff[37];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("T"))
        {
            return nameSuff[39];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("U"))
        {
            return nameSuff[41];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("V"))
        {
            return nameSuff[43];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("W"))
        {
            return nameSuff[45];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("X"))
        {
            return nameSuff[47];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Y"))
        {
            return nameSuff[49];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Z"))
        {
            return nameSuff[51];
        }
    }
    else
    {
        if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("A"))
        {
            return nameSuff[2];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("B"))
        {
            return nameSuff[4];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("C"))
        {
            return nameSuff[6];  
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("D"))
        {
            return nameSuff[8];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("E"))
        {
            return nameSuff[10];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("F"))
        {
            return nameSuff[12];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("G"))
        {
            return nameSuff[14];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("H"))
        {
            return nameSuff[16];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("I"))
        {
            return nameSuff[18];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("J"))
        {
            return nameSuff[20];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("K"))
        {
            return nameSuff[22];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("L"))
        {
            return nameSuff[24];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("M"))
        {
            return nameSuff[26];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("N"))
        {
            return nameSuff[28];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("O"))
        {
            return nameSuff[30];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("P"))
        {
            return nameSuff[32];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Q"))
        {
            return nameSuff[34];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("R"))
        {
            return nameSuff[36];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("S"))
        {
            return nameSuff[38];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("T"))
        {
            return nameSuff[40];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("U"))
        {
            return nameSuff[42];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("V"))
        {
            return nameSuff[44];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("W"))
        {
            return nameSuff[46];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("X"))
        {
            return nameSuff[48];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Y"))
        {
            return nameSuff[50];
        }
        else if (fL.equalsIgnoreCase("Z"))
        {
            return nameSuff[52];
        }  
        return "";
    }
    return "";
}

Answer 1

The huge if - else can be expressed as

int translation = 2 * (fNN.toUpper().charAt(0) - 'A');

if (fnCount % 2 == 0) {
    return nameStuff[ 1 + translation ];
} else {
    return nameStuff[ 2 + translation ];
}

The math-side of my brain is a little oozy right now, so let me know if there's some mistake here. This should work, though.

Though this is a hacky and incomprehensible code (remember to comment the shit out of this one), I think it is fine when it reduces 50 lines of code into 5.

Answer 2

String fNN, fL;
fNN = fN.trim();
int fnCount = fNN.length();
fL = String.valueOf(fNN.charAt(fNN.length()-1));

can be replaced with

fN = fN.trim();
char fL = fN.charAt(fN.length()-1);

then you can use the ASCII code of the letter to determine what the array index should be

fN = fN.trim();
char fL = fN.charAt(fN.length()-1);

String[] suffixOdd = {"aith", "bael", "con", "dul", "evar", "faen", "gin", "har", "im", "jaal", "kas", "lihn", "'mek", "'nil", "oth", "pek", "quis", "reth", "sel", "thus", "uath", "vin", "waal", "'xol", "yl", "zara"};
String[] suffixEven = {"ae", "brar", "cael", "drimme", "emar", "fel", "gael", "hal", "ii", "jin", "ki", "lian", "mah", "nes", "onna", "pae", "'que", "ruil", "san", "thal", "ual", "vain", "wyn", "'xe", "yth", "zair"};

int suffixIndex = Character.toUpperCase(fL) - 'A';
if (fN.length() % 2 != 0)
{
    if(suffixIndex >= suffixOdd.length)
        return "";
    return suffixOdd[Character.toUpperCase(fL) - 'A'];
}
else
{
    if(suffixIndex >= suffixEven.length)
        return "";
    return suffixEven[Character.toUpperCase(fL) - 'A'];
}

In this case your suffix even and odd are both 26 long as they should be so I put the length checks in each of the respective code blocks.

PS: I highly encourage you to type out more descriptive variable names fN, fL, lastPre ect... are bad names, I have no idea what they are. Future you will thank you.

Answer 3

After looking back at the answer, everyone seems to be right, a switch statement would probably not be the best solution, because it would help that much.

However you could use a map, which is basically a data structure that takes key value pairs. You could reduce your two sets of if-statements and initial declaration to something like this:

public static String preGet(String fN)
{
    HashMap<String, String> namePre = new HashMap<String, String>();
    String fNN, fL;
    fNN = fN.trim();
    fL = String.valueOf(fNN.charAt(0));
    String[] names = {"Ael", "Aer", "Bael", "Bes", "Cael", "Cor", "Dae", "Dre", "Eil", "Ev", "Fir", "Fis", "Gael", "Gil", "Ha", "Hu", "Ia", "Il", "Ja", "Jar", "Kan", "Kor", "La", "Lue", "Mai", "Mara", "Na", "Nim", "Ol", "Onn", "Py", "Pael", "Qu", "Qi", "Rum", "Rua", "Sae", "Sha", "Tahl", "Thro", "Ul", "Uon", "Ver", "Vil", "Wuo", "Waal", "Xae", "Xen", "Ya", "Yae", "Za", "Zy"};

    for (int i=0; i <26; i++){
        namePre.put(String.valueof((char)((i+64))), names[i]);
    }
    if (namePre.count(fN)){
        return namePre.get(fN);
    }
    return "";
}

Answer 4

Use an implementation of Map. Let the key be the letter of the alphabet and the value be what you're currently storing in your namePre array. This approach will also let you dispense with the array because your Map is acting as a means of both storage and retrieval.

Take your preGet method as an example. Rather than writing all those conditionals, you can achieve the same goal in a more compact fashion, something like so:

firstEvenPre = new HashMap<String, String>();

// some code to load up your prefixes

public static String preGet(String fN)
{
    String[] namePre;
    String fNN, fL;
    fNN = fN.trim();
    int fnCount = fNN.length();
    fL = String.valueOf(fNN.charAt(0));

    return (String)firstEvenPre.get(fL);
}

Use some discretion in trying the code, I didn't test it and I've been writing Ruby lately, so I might have some brain fog.