Java declare array outside variable definition

Question

I'm looking for a way to give a java array a value directly, outside of its declaration, for example

/*this works*/
int a[] = {1,2,3};

/*this doesn't*/
a = {1,2,3};

the motivation is so that a method with an array as an argument can be used like this

public void f(int a[]) {
 /*do stuff*/
}

f({1,2,3});

instead of

int a[] = {1,2,3};
f(a);

Do you mean a literal array? This seems to not have anything to do with statics — Uri
– Uri, Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 18:09
yes "literal array" is the term i was going for. i didn't know the proper name — Mike
– Mike, Commented Sep 30, 2009 at 18:14

Craig Otis · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-30 18:10:36Z

7

Try:

a = new int[] {1,2,3};

answered Sep 30, 2009 at 18:10

Craig Otis

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Comments

akf · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-30 18:09:38Z

5

try :

a = new int[]{1,2,3};

answered Sep 30, 2009 at 18:09

akf

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2 Comments

akf Over a year ago

i declare my individuality via my lowercase t

Craig Otis Over a year ago

and the lack of a space between ']' and '{'. i will allow our differences.

mob · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-30 18:09:55Z

3

In general you can say

int[] a;
a = new int[]{1,2,3};

public void f(int a[]) { ... }

f(new int[]{1,2,3})

to initialize arrays at arbitrary places in the code.

answered Sep 30, 2009 at 18:09

mob

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Comments

Tom · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-30 18:18:54Z

3

As a cleaner alternate, you could use the variable parameters functionality, this still works with passing in an array too - it's just syntactic sugar.

public void f(int... a) {
    /*do stuff*/
}

public void test() {
    f(1);
    f(1,2,3);
    f(new int[]{1,2,3});
}

answered Sep 30, 2009 at 18:18

Tom

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Comments

Chris Dail · Accepted Answer · 2009-09-30 18:09:37Z

0

You can use a static block to do what you are looking for. Keep in mind that this is executing the first time the class is loaded.

private static int a[];

static {
    a = new int[] {1,2,3};
    f(new int[]{1,2,3}); 
}

public static void f(int a[]) {
 ///
}

answered Sep 30, 2009 at 18:09

Chris Dail

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2 Comments

Chris Dail Over a year ago

Based on the responses, it looks like you are asking for declaring an array not a 'static' array.

Nicholas Jordan Over a year ago

"yes. i misused the word static" -- can you tell us the difference between static and reference? public void f(int a[]) gives you the actual array at the point of the method call, which you can then just use as the actual array.

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