Asking about handling file that store dictionary data!

[.:n'tQ-boy:.]

Hi mate,
I am doing a mini program in java that let us look up word as a dictionary.
I tended to use database to store words and their meanings, but my teacher suggested me using file (or xml).
I chose using file (write a vector to file).
Can u tell me how to read my file if its size is large, and how to organize this file that best for searching!
Thanks for any help and idea!

[joehms22]

Its unlikely you'll really need to worry about file size when you're dealig with a small dictionary, as you can get about 250 printed pages in a single MB of text, so a small dictionary shouldn't be a huge problem. That being said, if you really want it to load quickly, you could try using a HashMap and the serialize feature, which turns a java object in to a string representation or back again; then save that serized form to a file, so when you load it back, you don't have to worry about re-creating the whole object again.

If, however, you were going to use a file, you could alphabetize it, something like this:

aardvark - a small animal
ball - a spherical object
cat - the lord of the internet
droid - not the one you're looking for
diplodocus - a dinosaur

Then have your program find the file size, jump to the middle, check which word is there, if your word is higher, jump to 3/4, then test higher or lower again, thus finding the word in the minimum number of steps.

[.:n'tQ-boy:.]

Thank you joehns22!
When i update new words to dictionary, what should i do (to esure that new words don't break the alphabet order?
If you were i, what would u do to index words in file that easy to look up(search). Ah, note that one word has these properties : word, pronunciation,wordtype (like noun, verb...), meaning.

[joehms22]

If you're updating the dictionary through the program, when a user inserts new words, you can have the program re-sort the list and output the whole file again, or what might be easier is using a Map that auto-sorts. When reading the file you could break it up in to a String[] [word, pronunciation, wordtype, meaning] and store it in the Map with the key being the word.

[.:n'tQ-boy:.]

Do you agree with me that i will store words in 27 file(26 letters and 1 file store words start with 0-9)

[joehms22]

That could work, but it might be easier just to store all the words in one file, and sort them when you read it in to java.