help with ArrayLists !

here's the code i have so far for my assignement. So far as I can tell, only the findShortest and findLongest methods don't work -- but I have no idea how to get them to work! Can anyone please help?

Code:

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import java.util.Scanner; 
import java.util.*;

import java.util.Iterator;

public class arrayListPractice
{

    public static void main(String[] args){
       
        ArrayList<String> names = new ArrayList();
       
        System.out.println("How many students are in the class?");
       
        Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
       
        int numStudents = scan.nextInt();
       
        System.out.println("Thank you.");
       
        for(int i = 1; i <= numStudents; i++){
           
            System.out.println("Please input student " + i + "'s name:");
           
            String name = scan.next();
           
            names.add(name);
       
       
       
    }
 
        System.out.println("Thank you.");
       
                System.out.println();
       
        System.out.println("Here are the names in order:");
       
        System.out.println(printList(names));
       
                System.out.println();
               
               
       
        System.out.println("Here are the names in reverse order:");
       
        System.out.println(printListInReverse(names));
       
                System.out.println();
               
               
       
        System.out.println("Here is the longest name in the list:");
       
        System.out.println(findLongestName(names));
       
                System.out.println();
               
               
       
        System.out.println("Here is the shortest name in the list:");
       
        System.out.println(findShortestName(names));
       
                System.out.println();
               
               
       
        System.out.println("Here is the list with the BAD NAMES removed:");
       
        System.out.println(eliminate(names));
       
                System.out.println();
               
               
 }
 
 
 
 
 
 public static ArrayList printList(ArrayList<String> names){
   
  ArrayList printList = names ;
 
  return printList;
   
    }
 
   
   
    public static ArrayList printListInReverse(ArrayList<String> names){
 
   
        ArrayList printListInReverse = new ArrayList() ;
    for ( int i = names.size() - 1 ; i >= 0 ; i-- )
    {
      Object obj = names.get( i ) ;
      printListInReverse.add( obj ) ;
    }
  return printListInReverse ;
   
   
 }
 
 
    public static ArrayList findLongestName(ArrayList<String> names){
       
        ArrayList longest = names;
       
        int longer = longest.size();
       
            for(int i = 0; i < longer; i ++){
               
                String named = longest.get(i);
               
                if(named[i].length > max){
                   
                    int longest;
                    i = longest;
                   
                   
                }
       
    }
   
   
    return names( longest);
   
  }
   
    public static ArrayList findShortestName(ArrayList<String> names){
       
            int min = 0;
       
            ArrayList shortest = names;
       
            int size = shortest.size();
       
            for(int i = 0; i < size; i ++){
               
                String named = shortest.get(i);
               
                if(named[i].length < min){
                   
                    int shortest;
                    i = shortest;
                   
                   
                }
       
            }
   
   
            return names( shortest);
   
        }
   
   
   
    public static ArrayList eliminate(ArrayList<String> names){
       
        for ( int i = names.size; i > 0; i -- ){
           
              ArrayList eliminate = names ;
           
            if(eliminate(i) == Harrison || eliminate(i) == John || eliminate(i) == Dilpreet || eliminate(i) == Arman){
               
                eliminate.remove( i );
               
            }
           
        }
       
        return eliminate ;
    }
}

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Does your code compile? If not, please copy and paste the full text of the error messages here.

Code:

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arrayListPractice.java:115: error: incompatible types
                String named = longest.get(i);
                                          ^
  required: String
  found:    Object
arrayListPractice.java:117: error: array required, but String found
                if(named[i].length > max){
                        ^
arrayListPractice.java:117: error: cannot find symbol
                if(named[i].length > max){
                                    ^
  symbol:  variable max
  location: class arrayListPractice
arrayListPractice.java:119: error: longest is already defined in findLongestName(ArrayList<String>)
                    int longest;
                        ^
arrayListPractice.java:128: error: cannot find symbol
    return names( longest);
          ^
  symbol:  method names(ArrayList)
  location: class arrayListPractice
arrayListPractice.java:142: error: incompatible types
                String named = shortest.get(i);
                                          ^
  required: String
  found:    Object
arrayListPractice.java:144: error: array required, but String found
                if(named[i].length < min){
                        ^
arrayListPractice.java:146: error: shortest is already defined in findShortestName(ArrayList<String>)
                    int shortest;
                        ^
arrayListPractice.java:155: error: cannot find symbol
            return names( shortest);
                  ^
  symbol:  method names(ArrayList)
  location: class arrayListPractice
arrayListPractice.java:163: error: size has private access in ArrayList
        for ( int i = names.size; i > 0; i -- ){
                          ^
arrayListPractice.java:167: error: method eliminate in class arrayListPractice cannot be applied to given types;
            if(eliminate(i) == "Harrison" || eliminate(i) == "John" || eliminate(i) == "Dilpreet" || eliminate(i) == "Arman"){
              ^
  required: ArrayList<String>
  found: int
  reason: actual argument int cannot be converted to ArrayList<String> by method invocation conversion
arrayListPractice.java:167: error: method eliminate in class arrayListPractice cannot be applied to given types;
            if(eliminate(i) == "Harrison" || eliminate(i) == "John" || eliminate(i) == "Dilpreet" || eliminate(i) == "Arman"){
                                            ^
  required: ArrayList<String>
  found: int
  reason: actual argument int cannot be converted to ArrayList<String> by method invocation conversion
arrayListPractice.java:167: error: method eliminate in class arrayListPractice cannot be applied to given types;
            if(eliminate(i) == "Harrison" || eliminate(i) == "John" || eliminate(i) == "Dilpreet" || eliminate(i) == "Arman"){
                                                                      ^
  required: ArrayList<String>
  found: int
  reason: actual argument int cannot be converted to ArrayList<String> by method invocation conversion
arrayListPractice.java:167: error: method eliminate in class arrayListPractice cannot be applied to given types;
            if(eliminate(i) == "Harrison" || eliminate(i) == "John" || eliminate(i) == "Dilpreet" || eliminate(i) == "Arman"){
                                                                                                    ^
  required: ArrayList<String>
  found: int
  reason: actual argument int cannot be converted to ArrayList<String> by method invocation conversion
arrayListPractice.java:175: error: cannot find symbol
        return eliminate ;
              ^
  symbol:  variable eliminate
  location: class arrayListPractice
Note: arrayListPractice.java uses unchecked or unsafe operations.
Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.
15 errors

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Which of the error messages are you having trouble with? Most are self explanatory. For example:
array required, but String found
The compiler has found a variable in a statement that is a String but by the syntax of the statement the variable type should be an array.

A technque to keep from getting so many errors at once is to type in the minimum code and do a compile, fix the errors and compile again. Continue until you get a clean compile. Then add a few more lines and do it again.
Don't wait until you have typed in 170+ lines before trying to compile your program.