Part (a)

Write the findHorseSpace method that finds a horse by name.

Solution

public int findHorseSpace(String name)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < spaces.length; i++)
    {
        if (spaces[i] != null && spaces[i].getName().equals(name))
        {
            return i;
        }
    }
    return -1;
}

Part (b)

Write the consolidate method that moves all horses to the front.

Solution

public void consolidate()
{
    Horse[] newSpaces = new Horse[spaces.length];
    int index = 0;
    
    for (int i = 0; i < spaces.length; i++)
    {
        if (spaces[i] != null)
        {
            newSpaces[index] = spaces[i];
            index++;
        }
    }
    spaces = newSpaces;
}

Key Concepts

Common Mistakes