The add method returns a boolean indicating whether or not the add succeeded. Might be clearer with indenting:
Set<String> s = new HashSet<String>(); for(String a:args) if(!s.add(a)) System.out.println("Duplicate detected:"+a); Or even better with braces:
Set<String> s = new HashSet<String>(); for(String a:args) { if(!s.add(a)) { System.out.println("Duplicate detected:"+a); } } The message is displayed if the add failed.