How can I check if an element exists in a Set of items?

Question

In an if statement in Java how can I check whether an object exists in a set of items. E.g. In this scenario i need to validate that the fruit will be an apple, ora

Answer 1

If you have Set, List, Map of fruits which all have the same parent: Collection, you can try this example.

String fruitName = "Orange";
Collection fruits = ... // set of fruits
if (fruits.contains(fruitName)) {
    ...
}

(For Java 8/9/10 ways of creating literal Set please see this SO answer.)

Be careful with case sensitivity (Orange != orange).