CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaarraysloopsreturn
User
User

Reputation: 1726

How to implement a return statement when using a for loop in Java?

I am creating a method that returns the variable elt if it exists in an array. If it does not exist in an array, I need to return null.

The issue is, I am checking for the variable elt in each item in the array using an if statement in a for-loop. I do not think I can put a return statement at the end of the if statement in the for-loop, because each time it executes the if statement, the potential return value would be different. I think this would make a new return value each time the for-loop was looped through. To solve this, I created a boolean temp variable called exist. If true, the method will return the variable elt. If false, it will return null. The code I am working with is below.

public T remove(T elt) {
        boolean exist;

        for (int i=0; i<data.length; i++) {
            if (data[i] == elt) {
                data[i] = null;
                size--;
                exist = true;
                System.out.println(exist);

                for (++i; i < data.length; i++) {
                    data[i-1] = data[i];
                }
            }
        }
        if (exist = true)
            return elt;
        else
            return null;
    }

My question is, is there a way to tuck the return statement in the method without using a temp variable?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2155

Answers (2)

Rahman
Rahman

Reputation: 3785

There is no need to use one extra variable . You can directly return from for loop. Instead of writing exist = true write return elt and at the end instead of 

if (exist = true)
            return elt;
        else
            return null;

just write return null so that if elt doesnt exist it will return null.

Upvotes: 3

Chase Henslee
Chase Henslee

Reputation: 3998

You can put a return statement almost anywhere.

To answer your question, you could put a return after your inner for loop like follows:

public T remove(T elt) {

    for (int i=0; i<data.length; i++) {
        if (data[i] == elt) {
            data[i] = null;
            size--;
            System.out.println(exist);

            for (++i; i < data.length; i++) {
                data[i-1] = data[i];
            }

            return elt;
        }
    }

    return null;
}

Upvotes: 3

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