ArrayList.remove() is not removing an object

Question

I know this is a messy implementation, but I basically have this code (I wrote all of it), and I need to be able to remove a student or instructor from the list when using the appropriate menu choice. Everything else in the code works, just not menu options 3 and 4. I'm entering the exact same information for the object when trying to delete. Here's the code. All three classes are below.

Driver class:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Scanner;

public class Driver {
private ArrayList<Student> students;
private ArrayList<Instructor> instructors;

public static void main(String[] args) {        
    Driver aDriver = new Driver();
    aDriver.run();      
}

public Driver() {
    students = new ArrayList<Student>();
    instructors = new ArrayList<Instructor>();
}

private void run() {
    Student aStudent;
    Instructor anInstructor;
    Scanner inp = new Scanner(System.in);
    int choice = -1;
    String str = "Enter a menu option:\n";

    str += " 0: Quit\n";
    str += " 1: Add new student\n";
    str += " 2: Add new instructor\n";
    str += " 3: Delete existing student\n";
    str += " 4: Delete existing instructor\n";
    str += " 5: Print list of students\n";
    str += " 6: Print list of instructors\n";
    str += "Your choice: ";

    do {
        System.out.print(str);
        choice = inp.nextInt();

        switch(choice) {
        case 0:
            System.out.println("Thanks! Have a great day!");
            break;
        case 1:
            aStudent = getStudentInfo();
            addStudent(aStudent);
            break;
        case 2:
            anInstructor = getInstructorInfo();
            addInstructor(anInstructor);
            break;
        case 3:
            aStudent = getStudentInfo();
            deleteStudent(aStudent);
            break;
        case 4:
            anInstructor = getInstructorInfo();
            deleteInstructor(anInstructor);
            break;
        case 5:
            printStudents();
            break;
        case 6:
            printInstructors();
            break;
        default:
            System.out.println("Invalid menu item " + choice);  
        }
    }
    while(choice != 0);
}

public Student getStudentInfo() {
    Student aStudent;
    String name = null;
    String id = null;
    double GPA = 0.0;
    Scanner inp = new Scanner(System.in);

    System.out.print("\n\nEnter the student's name: ");
    name = inp.nextLine();
    System.out.print("Enter the student's ID: ");
    id = inp.nextLine();
    System.out.print("Enter the student's GPA: ");
    GPA = inp.nextDouble();

    aStudent = new Student(name, id, GPA);
    return aStudent;
}

public Instructor getInstructorInfo() {
    Instructor anInstructor;
    String name = null;
    String id = null;
    String dept = null;
    String email = null;
    Scanner inp = new Scanner(System.in);

    System.out.print("\n\nEnter the instructor's name: ");
    name = inp.nextLine();
    System.out.print("Enter the instructor's ID: ");
    id = inp.nextLine();
    System.out.print("Enter the instructor's department: ");
    dept = inp.nextLine();
    System.out.print("Enter the instructor's email address: ");
    email = inp.nextLine();

    anInstructor = new Instructor(name, id, dept, email);
    return anInstructor;
}

public void addStudent(Student aStudent) {
    students.add(aStudent);
}

public void addInstructor(Instructor anInstructor) {
    instructors.add(anInstructor);
}

public void deleteStudent(Student aStudent) {
    students.remove(aStudent);
}

public void deleteInstructor(Instructor anInstructor) {
    instructors.remove(anInstructor);
}

public void printStudents() {
    System.out.println("\n\n" + Student.printHeader());

    for(int i = 0; i < students.size(); i++) {
        System.out.print(students.get(i));
    }

    System.out.print("\n\n");
}

public void printInstructors() {
    System.out.print("\n\n" + Instructor.printHeader());

    for(int i = 0; i < instructors.size(); i++) {
        System.out.print(instructors.get(i));
    }

    System.out.print("\n\n");
}
}

Student class:

public class Student {
private String name;
private String id;   //String to allow for the possibility of leading zeroes
private double GPA;

public Student() {
    name = "TestFirst TestLast";
    id = "00000";
    GPA = -1.00;
}

public Student(String name1, String id1, double GPA1) {
    name = name1;
    id = id1;
    GPA = GPA1;
}

public static String printHeader() {
    String str = String.format("%-25s%-7s%-6s\n", "Name", "ID", "GPA");
    return str;
}

public String toString() {
    String str = String.format("%-25s%-7s%-6.3f\n", name, id, GPA);
    return str;
}

public String getName() {
    return name;
}

public void setGPA(double GPA2) {
    GPA = GPA2;
}
}

Instructor class:

public class Instructor {
private String name;
private String id;
private String dept;
private String email;

public Instructor() {
    name = "TestFirst TestLast";
    id = "-00001";
    dept = "TestDept";
    email = "test@test.net";
}

public Instructor(String name1, String id1, String dept1, String email1) {
    name = name1;
    id = id1;
    dept = dept1;
    email = email1;
}

public static String printHeader() {
    String str = String.format("%-30s%-6s%-15s%-15s\n", "Name", "ID", "Department", "Email Address");
    return str;
}

public String toString() {
    String str = String.format("%-30s%-6s%-15s%-15s\n", name, id, dept, email);
    return str;
}

public String getName() {
    return name;
}
}

Answer 1

You must correctly override the equals() method for both Student and Instructor classes.

When overriding equals, it is good to override hashCode() as well. new Student(name, id, GPA);

For example, something like this:

public boolean equals(Object o) {
  if (!(o instanceof Student)) {
    return false;
  }
  Student other = (Student) o;
  return name.equals(other.name) && id.equals(other.id) && GPA == other.GPA;
}

public int hashCode() {
  return name.hashCode();
}

This way, you give a chance to the ArrayList figure out which object correspond to the one you passed as a parameter when deleting. If you don't override the above methods, it will use the default implementations in Object , which compare memory addresses which are definitely different as you remove a new Student object.

You can read even more information about the 2 methods in the javadocs for Object .

Answer 2

You need to Override equals and hashcode methods for collections to work properly.

@Override
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
    if (obj == null)
        return false;
    if (!(obj instanceof Student))
        return false;
    Student other = (Student) obj;
    return id == null ? false : id.equals(other.id);//Compare Id if null falseF
}

Since you are only using ArrayList there is hashcode method will not be used but it is still good practice to provide it.

 @Override
public int hashCode() {
    return id == null ? 0 : id.hashCode();
}

Answer 3

You didn't override the method equals for Student and Instructor .

This method is used by the ArrayList to check wether 2 objects are the same. Without a custom implementation it will just check references, which will be different in your case since they are two different objects.

To provide custom equality you will have to check all the fields of the involved classes to be the same. This can be done recursively by calling equals on instance variables.

Answer 4

Overriding the equals method of Student and Instructor will work:

Here is an example for the Student class:

public boolean equals(Object other){
    if(other == null) return false;
    if(other == this) return true;
    if(!(other instanceof Student)) return false;
    Student otherStudent = (Student)other;
    return otherStudent.id.equals(this.id);
}

You may also want to override hashCode() :

public String hashCode(){
    return new HashCodeBuilder(17, 31).
        append(name).
        append(id).
        toHashCode();
}