CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaletterstartswith
Archey
Archey

Reputation: 1342

Determine if string starts with letters A through I

I've got a simple java assignment. I need to determine if a string starts with the letter A through I. I know i have to use string.startsWith(); but I don't want to write, if(string.startsWith("a")); all the way to I, it seems in efficient. Should I be using a loop of some sort?

Upvotes: 13

Views: 68237

Answers (6)

Bill K
Bill K

Reputation: 62769

char c=string.toLowerCase().charAt(0);
if( c >= 'a' && c <= 'i' )
    ...

This makes it easy to extract it as a method:

public static boolean startsBetween(String s, char lowest, char highest) {
    char c=s.charAt(0);
    c=Character.toLowerCase(c);  //thx refp
    return c >= lowest && c <= highest;
}

which is HIGHLY preferred to any inline solution. For the win, tag it as final so java inlines it for you and gives you better performance than a coded-inline solution as well.

Upvotes: 1

Sebastian Oberste-Vorth
Sebastian Oberste-Vorth

Reputation: 999

if ( string.toUpperCase().charAt(0) >= 'A' && string.toUpperCase().charAt(0) <= 'I' )

should be the easiest version...

Upvotes: 0

rsp
rsp

Reputation: 23373

How about this for brevity?

if (0 <= "ABCDEFGHI".indexOf(string.charAt(0))) {
    // string starts with a character between 'A' and 'I' inclusive
}

Upvotes: 3

Jin
Jin

Reputation: 11

Try 

string.charAt(0) >= 'a' && string.charAt(0) <= 'j'

Upvotes: 1

Mark Byers
Mark Byers

Reputation: 838186

You don't need regular expressions for this.

Try this, assuming you want uppercase only:

char c = string.charAt(0);
if (c >= 'A' && c <= 'I') { ... }

If you do want a regex solution however, you can use this (ideone):

if (string.matches("^[A-I].*$")) { ... }

Upvotes: 37

parapura rajkumar
parapura rajkumar

Reputation: 24403

if ( string.charAt(0) >= 'A' && string.charAt(0) <= 'I' )
{
}

should do it

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions