Itemizing returned int[] into individual integer variables

Question

I have a function that returns two integers as a list. Is it possible in Java to separate these into individual int variables from the function?

int first, int second = returnsIntList();

Or am I restricted to initializing.

int numbers[] = returnsIntList();
int firstInt = numbers[0];
int secondInt = numbers [1];

I'm trying to increase readability in my program since the two integers can't be described with a single word but I'm unsure if the syntax exists after searching because 90% of the battle with searching these days is knowing the correct terms to search.

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-12 01:59:18Z

5

No, there's nothing like this in Java.

If there will always be two values with specific meaning, it would be better if they were returned in a custom type with appropriate properties. But otherwise, you just have to make do with storing the array reference in one variable, and then fetching the individual values in separate statements.

answered Jul 12, 2013 at 1:59

Jon Skeet

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JHS · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-12 02:00:05Z

3

You cannot do what you are trying to do.

One of the common practice in Java is use of Value Objects.

To know what Value Objects is have a look here.

You can have a class with getter and setter of the 2 numbers(integers). In the method returnsIntList() you can create an object of the class and set the 2 numbers using the respective set method. The method should then return the object.

You can then get the values from the object from the respective get method.

answered Jul 12, 2013 at 2:00

JHS

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Mark M · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-12 02:02:40Z

1

You can't do this in Java. In this instance you will be limited to initializing. You may want to look into custom data types, then you can just call the numbers through getters.

answered Jul 12, 2013 at 2:02

Mark M

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