More efficient way to find an element...

Question

I am iterating through a vector to determine if it contains a specific element, as determined by an id. I know there must be a better way to do it than the example below. I looked into LinkedHashMap a little bit. Could that be a lest costly solution?
Any examples would be much appreciated...
String idToFind = 2314;
for(Enumeration e = reallyBigVector.elements();e.hasMoreElements();) {
      String[] nextPerson = (String[]) e.nextElement();
      if(nextPerson [5].equals(idToFind))//nextPerson [5] is their id
           return true;
return false;//didn't find it

Answer 1

btv wrote:
I am iterating through a vector to determine if it contains a specific element, as determined by an id. I know there must be a better way to do it than the example below. I looked into LinkedHashMap a little bit. Could that be a lest costly solution?
Any examples would be much appreciated...
String idToFind = 2314;
for(Enumeration e = reallyBigVector.elements();e.hasMoreElements();) {
String[] nextPerson = (String[]) e.nextElement();
if(nextPerson [5].equals(idToFind))//nextPerson [5] is their id
return true;
return false;//didn't find it
No no no. Don't go storing data in an array of Strings that can be encapsulated in a class. Create a custom Person class holding this data:
public class Person {
  private int id;
  // other attributes and methods
}then override equals(Object) and hashCode() in that class so you can look up your object more easily from a collection class.
More info: [http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/concepts/]