Java variable defined inside a loop doesn't seem to be recognized outside the loop?

Question

I have a section of code that is puzzling me. I define an integer array inside an if/else statement because the length of the array depends on the length of 2 inputs to the

Answer 1

You are declaring the output variable as a local variable inside each of the if/else statements. To fix this, declare it first outside then adjust it and return the results. This keeps it in the scope between the brackets { }.

public String AddArrays(int [] arg1, int [] arg2) {
    int L1 = arg1.length;
    int L2 = arg2.length;
    int[] output;
    if (L1 > L2) {
        output = new int[L2];
        for (int i = 0; i < L2; i++) {
            output[i] = arg1[i] + arg2[i];
        }
    } else {
        output = new int[L1];
        for (int i = 0; i < L2; i++) {
            output[i] = arg1[i] + arg1[i];
        }
    }
    String result = Arrays.toString(output);
    return result;
}