FINAL

src/AssessmentPartFour.java

+/**
+ * <b>Assessment</b> part three<br>
+ * <b>Created</b> 08/11/18<br>
+ * <b>Modified</b> 04/01/18<br>
+ * @author <a href = "mailto:neil.whitehead@yorksj.ac.uk"> Neil Whitehead</a>, <a href = "mailto:a.guest@yorksj.ac.uk">Andrew Guest</a>
+ */
+
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.io.*;
@@ -5,47 +12,57 @@ import java.io.*;
 public class AssessmentPartFour 
 {	
 	List<String> morseCode = new ArrayList<String>();
+	//global variable
 	
-	
-	
-	//COMMENT THIS A LOT BETTER
-	
+	/**
+	 * Populates list with input from text file <br>
+	 * Assumes that no validation checks are required.
+	 * @param filename string
+	 * @param morseCode string
+	 * @return morseCode.size int
+	 */
 	public int loadMorseFromFile(String filename)
 	{
+		morseCode = new ArrayList<String>();
 	
-    morseCode = new ArrayList<String>();
-		
-	try 
-	{
-		FileReader file = new FileReader (filename);
-		
-		BufferedReader buffer = new BufferedReader ( file );
-		
-		String line = "";
+		try (FileReader file = new FileReader (filename); BufferedReader buffer = new BufferedReader (file))
+		//try/catch blocks will ensure that the program can recover from errors
+		//creating new file class so program can interact with file
+		//creating new buffer, which is faster to read from than repeatedly accessing the file directly
+		{
+			String strLine = "";
 		
-				while ((line = buffer.readLine()) !=null)
-				{
-					morseCode.add(line);
-				}
-		//buffer.close(); not needed as try will automatically close
-	}
-	catch (IOException e)
-	{
-		System.out.println("error");
-	}	
+			while ((strLine = buffer.readLine()) !=null)
+			//whilst there is something to add. . .
+			{
+				morseCode.add(strLine);
+				//. . . add to list
+			}
+		//buffer.close(); not needed as try-with-resources will automatically close
+		}
+		catch (IOException e)
+		//only used when error occurs.
+		{
+			System.out.println("Exception: " + e.getMessage());
+			//e.getMessage retrieves a string with an error message to further explain issue
+		}
 		return morseCode.size();
 	}
 	
 	
-	
-	//MOVE THE .GET INTO IT'S OWN VARIABLE.
-	
+	/**
+	 * Translates morse into standard English <br>
+	 * Assumes that no validation checks are required.
+	 * @param morseCode string array list (global variable)
+	 * @return strTranslated string
+	 */
 	public String translateMorse()
 	{	
 		String strTranslated = "";
 		
 		String[][] strMorseArray = 
-				//morse-letter lookup table, ordered by morse code length
+				//morse-letter lookup table, segregated by morse code length
+				//nb length corresponds with frequency within English language, so perhaps quicker than alphabetical
 		/* 0 */	{{" ", "E", "T"}, // have 1 char
 		/* 1 */	 {"/", ".", "-"},
 		/* 2 */	 {"A", "I", "N", "M"}, // have 2 char
@@ -60,15 +77,15 @@ public class AssessmentPartFour
 		for(int i = 0; i < morseCode.size(); i++)
 		//loops through each morse word within list (which has been taken from file)
 		{
-			String strMorseLetter;
+			String strUntranslated = morseCode.get(i);
 			
-			int x = (((morseCode.get(i)).length()) * 2) - 1;
+			int x = (((strUntranslated).length()) * 2) - 1;
 			//length of the morse input, times 2, minus 1 is the x co-ordinate of morse code within the array.
 			
 			for(int y = 0; y < strMorseArray[x].length; y++)
 			//loop through to identify y co-ordinate
 			{	
-				if(strMorseArray[x][y].contains(morseCode.get(i)))
+				if(strMorseArray[x][y].contains(strUntranslated))
 				//contains runs fractionally faster than equals.
 				//only checks against morse code which is the same length, so ".." containing "." is not an issue.
 				{					
@@ -81,7 +98,6 @@ public class AssessmentPartFour
 		}
 		strTranslated = strTranslated.toLowerCase();
 		//converting to lowercase to comply with unit test
-		System.out.println("strTranslated = " + strTranslated);	 
 		return strTranslated;
 	}