One big arraylist and static mess

[Crypts]

ok, so i have an assignment that starts with an empty arraylist and using user input, call various methods to do things to the arraylist. but im having trouble with static methods and static variables or just the general layout. heres my code so far:

import java.util.ArrayList; 
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.*;
import java.lang.String;

 
public class Part2
{

	private ArrayList<Collection> collections = new ArrayList<Collection>();
	
	private boolean quit = false
		
	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
			
		while(quit == false)
			mainMenu();
			selection();
		
	}

	
	public static void mainMenu()
	{
		System.out.println("Please make a selection, by entering the letter which corresponds to the desired action:");
		System.out.println("");
		System.out.println("[P] Print out details of list");
		System.out.println("[E] Is the list empty?");
		System.out.println("[N] Number of elements in list");
		System.out.println("[C] Create empty list");
		System.out.println("[I] Insert element into list");
		System.out.println("[D] Remove element from list with certain variable");
		System.out.println("[R] Remove element from list with a certain index");
		System.out.println("[F] Read data from file");
		System.out.println("[W] Write current list to file");
		System.out.println("[A] Print out average collection size");
		System.out.println("[M] Print out maximum collection size");
		System.out.println("[V] Print elements in list with a collection of a certain size");
		System.out.println("[U] Find whether a certain name owns a collection");
		System.out.println("[H] Change collection size of a certain person");
		System.out.println("[Q] Quit program ");
				
	}
	
	public boolean selection()
	{
		Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
		String selection = in.next();
		selection = selection.toUpperCase();
		
		if(selection.length() > 1)
		{
			System.out.println("That is not a valid input. Please make sure you enter only one character. Try again:");
			selection();
		}
		
		if(selection.equals("I"))
			insertElement();
		else if(selection.equals("P"))
			printListDetails();
		else if(selection.equals("E"))
			listEmpty();
		else if(selection.equals("N"))
			numberOfCollections();
		else if(selection.equals("C"))
			createEmptyList();
		else if(selection.equals("D"))
			removeElementCertainVariable();
		else if(selection.equals("R"))
			removeElementCertainIndex();
		else if(selection.equals("F"))
			readFile();
		else if(selection.equals("W"))
			WriteCurrentList();
		else if(selection.equals("A"))
			System.out.println(calculateAverage());
		else if(selection.equals("M"))
			System.out.println(findGreatestCollection());
		else if(selection.equals("V"))
			findElementsCertainSize();
		else if(selection.equals("U"))
			findElementCertainName();
		else if(selection.equals("H"))
			changeCollectionSize();
		else if(selection.equals("Q"))
			quit = true;
		else
			System.out.println("That is not a valid input. Please make sure you enter a character that corresponds to an action. Try again:");
		
		quit = false;	
	}
	
	public void insertElement()
	{
		System.out.println("Who is the collection owned by?");
		Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
		String name = in.next();
		for(int i=0; i<collections.size(); i++)
		{
			Collection a = collections.get(i);
			if(name.equals(a.getOwner()))
			{
				System.out.println("There is already an account owned by that name. Try a different name next time");
			}
		}
		System.out.println("How many CD's are in the collection?");
		Scanner in2 = new Scanner(System.in);
		int quantity = in2.nextInt();
		Collection c1 = new Collection(name);
		c1.addCD(quantity);
		System.out.println(c1.getOwner());
		
	}

it says that non-static variable quit cannot be referenced from a static context, and that the non static method selection() cannot be referenced from a static context, and i dont understand how to fix it
if i can get all that working, i should be able to do all the methods that manipulate the arraylist without too much hassle

EDIT: also, any hints on better layout/design are more than welcome

[curmudgeon]

So in my mind, I think that you have to ask yourself, is this project going to be a completely static project, or is it going to be an OOP-based project, and you'll have to make this decision first before trying to make any changes to this program.

[Eranga]

So in my mind, I think that you have to ask yourself, is this project going to be a completely static project, or is it going to be an OOP-based project, and you'll have to make this decision first before trying to make any changes to this program.

Yep. Actually think about the OOP-based approach is more and more appropriate. In later time, extensibility to the application is very high.

[Crypts]

so what is OOP-based? and how is it different from the static one?

[m00nchile]

OOP - object oriented programming. It relies on objects doing certain tasks to solve the problem at hand. A static aproach instead has a few functions that take parameters and return the results. Both aproaches solve a problem, it isn't really a question of what's right and what's wrong. It more of an organisational decision you have to make. I myself swear by OOP, since the programs I write now are actually legible and easy to maintain.

[Crypts]

ahk, so how would i change my code to create an OOP project?

[Norm]

Remove all static methods except for main(). Have main() create an object or objects that has the methods you need. Call the methods as needed using object references:
object.method()

[j2me64]

read this Understanding Instance and Class Members (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Classes and Objects)

[xcallmejudasx]

You could use a switch statement instead of that giant else if group also. It doesn't change much but makes it a little easier to read.

[Eranga]

so what is OOP-based?

Relevant to Java,

Lesson: Object-Oriented Programming Concepts (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language)

[Eranga]

You could use a switch statement instead of that giant else if group also. It doesn't change much but makes it a little easier to read.

Yeah that's 100% correct. Too many if-else conditions make really hard to read the code. And in most of the cases it's easy to handle different conditions.

[Norm]

One problem with converting to switch is that the expression is a primitive like int. The users values are Strings. Looks like a one for one conversion from a single letter String to an int however.

[Eranga]

We can keep kind of a mapping in such cases. But have to size if first of all to check that way is feasible or not.