Return values in Java - Mini Project: Build & Apply

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Return values

📖 Scenario: You are creating a simple calculator program that adds two numbers and returns the result.

🎯 Goal: Build a Java program with a method that takes two numbers, adds them, and returns the sum. Then print the returned value.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a method called addNumbers that takes two int parameters and returns their sum as an int.

Call the addNumbers method from main with the numbers 7 and 5.

Store the returned value in a variable called result.

Print the value of result.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Returning values from methods is how programs get results from calculations or data processing.

💼 Career

Understanding return values is essential for writing reusable code and building functions that communicate results in software development.

1

Create the main class and method

Create a public class called Calculator with a main method inside it.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Your code here
    }
}

💡 Need a hint?

Start by writing public class Calculator { and then add the main method inside.

2

Create the addNumbers method

Inside the Calculator class but outside the main method, create a public static method called addNumbers that takes two int parameters named a and b, and returns their sum as an int.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
    }

    // Your code here
}

💡 Need a hint?

Write a method with public static int addNumbers(int a, int b) and return the sum of a and b.

3

Call addNumbers and store the result

Inside the main method, call the addNumbers method with the arguments 7 and 5. Store the returned value in an int variable called result.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Your code here
    }

    public static int addNumbers(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }
}

💡 Need a hint?

Inside main, write int result = addNumbers(7, 5); to call the method and save the sum.

4

Print the result

Add a line inside the main method to print the value of the result variable using System.out.println.

Java

public class Calculator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int result = addNumbers(7, 5);
        // Your code here
    }

    public static int addNumbers(int a, int b) {
        return a + b;
    }
}

💡 Need a hint?

Use System.out.println(result); to show the sum on the screen.