Can I declare arrays without knowing how long it is going to be?
If so how,
I keep getting errors when I don't state a length for my array
I tought I could declare and use it like this:
String[] user_files;
for(i=0;i<xx;i++)
{
user_files=xxxxx
}>
The code
String[] user_files;
does not create an array, it creates a reference to an array.
This reference must be set to point to an array with code like this:
user_files = new String[10];
It is when the array is created that you must specify the length.
If you want a data structure like an array, but do not know the length when you create it, use an ArrayList instead:
List l = new ArrayList();
for (i = 0; i < xx; i++) {
l.add(new Object());
}
Arrays in java have a fixed length.You can declare a variable to be a reference to an array, like:
String[] user_files;
But, you can't use the variable user_files until it gets assigned to a String array. One way is to create a new array:
user_files=new String[20];
Another way is to call a method that returns an array of Strings:
user_files=myfile.list();
where myfile is a reference to a File object and the list() method of File returns a String array.
