Difference between int[] array and int array[]

Question

I have recently been thinking about the difference between the two ways of defining an array:

1. int[] array
2. int array[]
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Answer 1

There is no difference, but Sun recommends putting it next to the type as explained here

Answer 2

Both are ok. I suggest to pick one and stick with it. (I do the second one)

Answer 3

No, these are the same. However

byte[] rowvector, colvector, matrix[];

is equivalent to:

byte rowvector[], colvector[], matrix[][];

Taken from Java Specification. That means that

int a[],b;
int[] a,b;

are different. I would not recommend either of these multiple declarations. Easiest to read would (probably) be:

int[] a;
int[] b;

Answer 4

The two commands are the same thing.

You can use the syntax to declare multiple objects:

int[] arrayOne, arrayTwo; //both arrays

int arrayOne[], intOne; //one array one int 

see: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/second_edition/html/arrays.doc.html

Answer 5

The Java Language Specification says:

The [] may appear as part of the type at the beginning of the declaration,
or as part of the declarator for a particular variable, or both, as in this
example:

byte[] rowvector, colvector, matrix[];

This declaration is equivalent to:

byte rowvector[], colvector[], matrix[][];

Thus they will result in exactly the same byte code.

Answer 6

Yep, exactly the same. Personally, I prefer

int[] integers; 

because it makes it immediately obvious to anyone reading your code that integers is an array of int's, as opposed to

int integers[];

which doesn't make it all that obvious, particularly if you have multiple declarations in one line. But again, they are equivalent, so it comes down to personal preference.

Check out this page on arrays in Java for more in depth examples.