Returning Arrays in Java

Question

I have absolutely no idea as to why this code won t return an array    I feel like there is a problem with my compiler   public class trial1       public static void main String   args           numbers               public static int   numbers            int   A    1 2 3           return A            The code returns nothing at all  It s driving me crazy

User · Answer

You have a couple of basic misconceptions about Java:

I want it to return the array without having to explicitly tell the console to print.

1) Java does not work that way. Nothing ever gets printed implicitly. (Java does not support an interactive interpreter with a "repl" loop ... like Python, Ruby, etc.)

2) The "main" doesn't "return" anything. The method signature is:

  public static void main(String[] args)

and the void means "no value is returned". (And, sorry, no you can't replace the void with something else. If you do then the java command won't recognize the "main" method.)

3) If (hypothetically) you did want your "main" method to return something, and you altered the declaration to allow that, then you still would need to use a return statement to tell it what value to return. Unlike some language, Java does not treat the value of the last statement of a method as the return value for the method. You have to use a return statement ...

User · Answer

Of course the method numbers   returns an array  it s just that you re doing nothing with it  Try this in main     int   array   numbers                          obtain the array System out println Arrays toString array       now print it   That will show the array in the console

User · Answer

As Luiggi mentioned you need to change your main to   import java util Arrays   public class trial1       public static void main String   args           int   A   numbers            System out println Arrays toString A      Might require import of util Arrays            public static int   numbers            int   A    1 2 3           return A

User · Answer

You need to do something with the return value     import java util Arrays   public class trial1       public static void main String   args           int   B   numbers            System out println Arrays toString B               public static int   numbers            int   A    1 2 3           return A

User · Answer

It is returning the array  but all returning something  including an Array  does is just what it sounds like  returns the value  In your case  you are getting the value of numbers    which happens to be an array  it could be anything and you would still have this issue   and just letting it sit there   When a function returns anything  it is essentially replacing the line in which it is called  in your case  numbers     with the return value  So  what your main method is really executing is essentially the following   public static void main String   args         1 2 3       Which  of course  will appear to do nothing  If you wanted to do something with the return value  you could do something like this   public static void main String   args         int   result   numbers        for  int i 0  i lt result length  i              System out print result i

User · Answer

If you want to use the numbers method  you need an int array to store the returned value   public static void main String   args       int   someNumbers   numbers          do whatever you want with them        System out println Arrays toString someNumbers

[java] Returning Arrays in Java

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