Returning Multiple values in Java

Java doesn’t support multi-value returns. We can use following solutions to return multiple values.

If all returned elements are of same type

We can return an array in Java. Below is a Java program to demonstrate the same.

// A Java program to demonstrate that a method
// can return multiple values of same type by
// returning an array
class Test {
    // Returns an array such that first element
    // of array is a+b, and second element is a-b
    static int[] getSumAndSub(int a, int b)
    {
        int[] ans = new int[2];
        ans[0] = a + b;
        ans[1] = a - b;

        // returning array of elements
        return ans;
    }

    // Driver method
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        int[] ans = getSumAndSub(100, 50);
        System.out.println("Sum = " + ans[0]);
        System.out.println("Sub = " + ans[1]);
    }
}

Output:

Sum = 150
Sub = 50

If returned elements are of different types

Using Pair (If there are only two returned values)
We can use Pair in Java to return two values.

// Returning a pair of values from a function
import javafx.util.Pair;

class GfG {
    public static Pair<Integer, String> getTwo()
    {
        return new Pair<Integer, String>(10, "GeeksforGeeks");
    }

    // Return multiple values from a method in Java 8
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Pair<Integer, String> p = getTwo();
        System.out.println(p.getKey() + " " + p.getValue());
    }
}

If there are more than two returned values
We can encapsulate all returned types into a class and then return an object of that class.

Let us have a look at the following code.

// A Java program to demonstrate that we can return
// multiple values of different types by making a class
// and returning an object of class.

// A class that is used to store and return
// three members of different types
class MultiDivAdd {
    int mul; // To store multiplication
    double div; // To store division
    int add; // To store addition
    MultiDivAdd(int m, double d, int a)
    {
        mul = m;
        div = d;
        add = a;
    }
}

class Test {
    static MultiDivAdd getMultDivAdd(int a, int b)
    {
        // Returning multiple values of different
        // types by returning an object
        return new MultiDivAdd(a * b, (double)a / b, (a + b));
    }

    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        MultiDivAdd ans = getMultDivAdd(10, 20);
        System.out.println("Multiplication = " + ans.mul);
        System.out.println("Division = " + ans.div);
        System.out.println("Addition = " + ans.add);
    }
}

Output:

Multiplication = 200
Division = 0.5
Addition = 30

Returning list of Object Class

// Java program to demonstrate return of
// multiple values from a function using
// list Object class.
import java.util.*;

class GfG {
    public static List<Object> getDetails()
    {
        String name = "Geek";
        int age = 35;
        char gender = 'M';

        return Arrays.asList(name, age, gender);
    }

    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        List<Object> person = getDetails();
        System.out.println(person);
    }
}

Output:

[Geek, 35, M]

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