Thread: Array question

I'm kind of ashamed to ask this question but can anybody tell me how I can print a particular value of the array in the main method? how do I print x[2], for example. Thanks.

package pkgreturn;
 
public class Return {
 
    public static void main(String args[]) {
 
 
    }
 
    public static int[] returnVal() {
        int x[] = {45, 8, 6, 5};
        return x;
 
    }
}

Originally Posted by pbrockway2

You have to do two things: first get the array that returnVal() returns. This involves calling the method and assigning what it returns to a variable. There is no particular reason for that variable to be called x although it can be.

Secondly you print the element of the array you are interested in.

These two steps would be:

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] arr = returnVal();
        System.out.println(arr[2]);
    }

"int[] arr" and "int arr[]" mean the same thing, but I think the former is clearer: whether declaring variables, method arguments, or the return type of methods (where I don't think I have ever seen the other form used).

These steps can be combined if that's sensible:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println(returnVal()[2]);
}

Hello pbrockway2, thanks a lot for your answer.

I was ashamed to ask because I knew how to do this in the past, but I totally forgot you need the '[]' next to the method to retrieve the value. For some reason I was typing a dot between returnVal() and x[3] , instead of 'returnVal()[2]'.

Thanks

You're welcome.