Homework - Search Elements in ArrayList

Hello,

I am trying to write a method that will compare a String (from user input) to elements in an ArrayList.

OurExtendedWord(String word, int pos) {
this.word = word;
this.pos = pos; }

class OurList {
private ArrayList<OurExtendedWord> list;

OurList() {
list = new ArrayList<OurExtendedWord>(); }

/* This is a skeleton for the find() method */
String find(String word) {
// Needs to take user input and compare the word to the list
// If there is a match, return the word and the position
// If no match, return null
return null;
}

So far, I have:
String find(String word) {
// Get user input from Scanner
String searchFor = input.next();

// Loop through ArrayList to search for word
for (OurExtendedWord extWord : list) {
if (searchFor.equals(extWord)) {
return extWord.getWord();
}
else {
return null;
}
}
}

Any ideas on how I can fix this code?

Perhaps you should wait until you've walked through the entire list before returning null. You'll only compare with the very first element in the ArrayList with your current code.

Can you explain what the meaning is of the attribute 'pos' in the object 'OurExtendedWord'? I have an idea what you want to achieve with it, but I'd like to hear it from you because you might want to rethink this design.


EDIT:

Repost of http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/311227-search-for-elements-in-arraylist-given-user-input/

This block of code got 2 problems:
a) one already mentioned by stdunbar,
b) You should not be comparing the string searchWord with your extWord, as extWord is an instance of OurExtendedWord instead of a String instance.