How to return 2 values from a Java method?

Question

I am trying to return 2 values from a Java method but I get these errors. Here is my code:

// Method code
public static int something(){
    int number1 = 1;
    int number2 = 2;

    return number1, number2;
}

// Main method code
public static void main(String[] args) {
    something();
    System.out.println(number1 + number2);
}

Error:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.RuntimeException: Uncompilable source code - missing return statement
    at assignment.Main.something(Main.java:86)
    at assignment.Main.main(Main.java:53)

Java Result: 1

Answer 1

Instead of returning an array that contains the two values or using a generic Pair class, consider creating a class that represents the result that you want to return, and return an instance of that class. Give the class a meaningful name. The benefits of this approach over using an array are type safety and it will make your program much easier to understand.

Note: A generic Pair class, as proposed in some of the other answers here, also gives you type safety, but doesn't convey what the result represents.

Example (which doesn't use really meaningful names):

final class MyResult {
    private final int first;
    private final int second;

    public MyResult(int first, int second) {
        this.first = first;
        this.second = second;
    }

    public int getFirst() {
        return first;
    }

    public int getSecond() {
        return second;
    }
}

// ...

public static MyResult something() {
    int number1 = 1;
    int number2 = 2;

    return new MyResult(number1, number2);
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
    MyResult result = something();
    System.out.println(result.getFirst() + result.getSecond());
}