Example

public static void main( String[] args ) {
if ( args.length > 0 &&
args[ 0 ] != null &&
( args[ 0 ].equals( "input" ) || //$NON-NLS-1$
args[ 0 ].equals( "output" ) || //$NON-NLS-1$
args[ 0 ].equals("verbose") ) ) { //$NON-NLS-1$
System.out.println( "Valid argument" ); //$NON-NLS-1$
}
}

Solution
Group related clauses into methods.
  1. Identify related clauses.
  2. Move related clauses adjacent to each other.
  3. Create a method with a descriptive name for each group of clauses.
  4. Repeat these steps until there are no more related clauses.

public static void main( String[] args ) {
if ( hasFirstArgument( args ) &&
isValidArgument( args[ 0 ] ) ) {
System.out.println( "Not valid argument" ); //$NON-NLS-1$
}
}

private static boolean hasFirstArgument( String[] args ) {
return ( args.length > 0 ) && ( args[ 0 ] != null );
}

private static boolean isValidArgument( String s ) {
return s.equals( "input" ) || //$NON-NLS-1$
s.equals( "output" ) || //$NON-NLS-1$
s.equals( "verbose" ); //$NON-NLS-1$
}