Variable Arguments

**chili5** · 10-05-2009, 03:17 PM

Java Variable Arguments

Java allows you to pass a variable number of arguments to a function. We specify several arguments with a variable type followed by an ellipise and a name. The variable number of arguments must come as the last parameter of the function.

Example:

Code:

public static int sum(int... nums) {
        int nSum = 0;

        for (int x=0;x<nums.length;x++) {
            nSum += nums[x];
        }
        return nSum;
    }

This function takes a variable number of arguments and returns the sum of all the arguments. The key here is that you treat the variable arguments as an array.

Use this code to test out the function:

Code:

System.out.println(sum(3,4,2,5));
System.out.println(sum(-1,2));
System.out.println(sum(9,3,5,3,2,3,4,3,2,3,2,1,9,-5));

There is also a foreach loop that you can use in the function.

Code:

public static int sum(int... nums) {
        int nSum = 0;

        for (int i: nums) {
            nSum += i;
        }
        return nSum;
    }

This code basically does the same thing as above. It assigns each item in the array of parameters to i and then increases the sum by i. They both do the same thing. However, I like the first loop better because it allows me to control where in the array I start and where in the array I stop.

Combining varargs with static arguments

You can use a variable list and static number of arguments. The key here is that the variable arguments list must be declared at the end of the parameter list.

E.g.

Code:

 public static int product(int n, int... nums) {
        int product = 1;

        for (int i=0;i<nums.length;i++) {
            product *= (nums[i]);
        }
        product *= n;
        return product;
    }

In this code the user must pass one integer and then as many integers as they want.

Example:

Code: