Filter out items from Set in Java

Question

I have a list of items(i.e Strings) which I need to sort/filter. The end result should not contain any duplicate (easy), I'll put them all in the Set. So I have a Set of strings now. more explanation.. I also have a method x that calculates the amount of difference between two Strings (using levenstein distance). Question: Before inserting new String `string` into my Set `set` I want to check for levenstein distance using method `x` between `string` and any other String in the `set` and if `x` returns `>=3` than I should not add it. What is my best shot of doing this? Except iterate trough `set` for each `string` to be inserted?

Accepted Answer

Iterating through the `Set` is going to be your best bet, since there isn't any built-in `Set` implementation that would help you narrow the possibilities.

Filter out items from Set in Java

Solution

Problem