Efficient command line validation.

Question

Efficient command line validation and method invoking .
I'm mulling over an efficient way to validate command line parameters passed into a program and then call methods attributed to those parameters.
I can of course use
Many if else
A switch
But I'm wondering on the efficiently of using a lookup such as java.util.Properties to validate and then reflection the call the corresponding method. I am uncertain of the overhead involving reflection when used in this way. Or is there a way to efficiently validate many command line parameters and then call its corresponding method.
A problem with reflection is I don't want to leave the methods public.
- Ideas ?

Answer 1

So at this point you've already dealt with arguments like:
yourProgram -file index.txt(i.e., where the next String in argv[] is the value of the argument)
and now you're using this system to invoke functionality, generically, in your application?
So:
java laudromat -startWashwill start the washing machine going?
If that's the case, then actually a name like "process" or "execute" is fine, I think. That's the Command pattern where something like this is expected, I believe. I'd prefer "execute" over "process", myself, because "process" suggests processes running in the OS, etc., to me. "executeOption" is I think redundant.
If the application can take multiple options, then does this mean that the program will perform multiple actions simultaneously? If so, then you'd need multiple threads, and there's already the "run" method there. In which case, it's not clear whether you really even need an Option interface -- maybe Runnable will be sufficient.
I'm just brainstorming here, maybe none of this is applicable to your application.