help with ArrayLists !

[bigbreez21]

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?

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 ;
    }
}

[Norm]

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

[bigbreez21]

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

[Norm]

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.