CODEWITHSUNDEEP
java
MeMory LEAk99
MeMory LEAk99

Reputation: 305

Is it possible to retrieve values refering to a string of the same name?

I'm doing a bit of a side project at the moment, and was wondering if it's possible to retrieve values from variables refering only to a String which shares the same name.

i.e.

int x,y,z;

String sa [] = {"x","y","z"};

//then loop through sa, and get the values associated with each name and store them into a different
//container.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 83

Answers (4)

Godwin
Godwin

Reputation: 9907

Sort of like:

int x = 4;
y = GetVariable("x");
System.out.println(y);

Output: 4

No, it's not unfortunately. Java doesn't store it's variable names.

Maybe you could give us an example of what you are trying to do to see if there is a better solution.

Upvotes: 0

Jon Skeet
Jon Skeet

Reputation: 1499870

If they're instance or static variables, you can do this using reflection to get the fields - but it would usually be better to use a Map<String, Integer>.

If you can tell us more about what you're trying to achieve in your side project that would help, but generally if you want to dynamically associate keys with values, you should use a map. For example:

Map<String, Integer> map = new Map<String, Integer>();

map.put("x", 10);
map.put("y", 20);
map.put("z", 30);

Integer z = map.get("z"); // z is now 30...

Upvotes: 3

Tomasz Nurkiewicz
Tomasz Nurkiewicz

Reputation: 340693

Are you asking whether it's possible to read a local variable having "a" string? No.

However if a, b and c are fields, you can use reflection to obtain their values.

Upvotes: 1

DejanLekic
DejanLekic

Reputation: 19787

Yes, it is possible, through the Reflection API: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/reflect/

Upvotes: 2

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