Compiler: "This method must return a result of type int" What to do?

Hello, this is puzzling me. I will post the whole program and will point out the problem spot.

import java.util.*;
 
public class SortingAndSearchingArrays
{
static Scanner console = new Scanner(System.in);
public static void main(String[] args)
{
int numStudents, returned;
String searched;
String[] sorted;
System.out.println("Enter the number of students in your class: ");
numStudents = console.nextInt();
String[] students = new String[numStudents];

System.out.println("\nEnter " + numStudents + " names of students in class: ");
for (int i = 0; i < numStudents; i++)
{
students[i] = console.next();
}
System.out.println("\nEnter the name to be searched:");
searched = console.next();

System.out.println("\nBefore Sorting: ");
printNames(students, numStudents);
System.out.println("\n\nAfter Sorting: ");
sorted = sortedNames(students, numStudents);
printNames(sorted, numStudents);
returned = nameSearch(sorted, searched);
if (returned >= 0)
{
System.out.println("\n" + searched + " is found at position " + returned); 
}
else
{
System.out.println("\n" + searched + " is not in class.");
}
 
}

public static void printNames(String[] names, int num)
{
for (int i = 0; i < num; i++)
{
System.out.print(names[i] + " ");
}
}
public static String[] sortedNames(String[] names, int num)
{
int val1, val2;
String temp;
for (int counter = 1; counter < num - 1; counter++)
{
for (int index = 0; index < num - counter; index++)
{
val1 = names[index].compareTo(names[index + 1]);
val2 = names[index + 1].compareTo(names[index]);
if (val1 > val2)
{
temp = names[index];
names[index] = names[index + 1];
names[index + 1] = temp;
}
}
}
return names;
}
public static int nameSearch(String[] inOrder, String searchedFor)
{
for (int i = 0; i < inOrder.length; i++)
{
if (searchedFor == inOrder[i])
{
return i;
}
else if (i > inOrder.length)
{
return -1;
}
}
}
}

Now, the problem comes from the nameSearch method. It keeps saying "This method must return a result of type int," but I have two returns there.

What is going on? Thanks for the help.
[ April 20, 2008: Message edited by: Alex Bruhart ]

Hi,

Welcome to JavaRanch!

Although you might know better, as far as the compiler can tell, it's possible for control to read the end of the method without ever seeing a return statement. For example, trivially, what if array inOrder has length 0? Then the for loop's body is never executed at all, and the method immediately tries to return -- but can't, as there's no "return" statement.

So if you added a "return -1" at the very end, you'd be good. You could then replace the "return -1" inside the loop with "break", so it'd just jump to the outside return.

Hello, thanks for your quick and kind response.

Do you mean doing something like this?

If so, now when I tried to run the program, even if it is supposed to return i, it returns -1.

Thanks again.

Don't use == to compare Strings, use the equals() method.

[ April 20, 2008: Message edited by: Garrett Rowe ]

Originally posted by Garrett Rowe:
Don't use == to compare Strings, use the equals() method.

Thanks, Garrett, I missed that!

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

I love learning new languages, but there is so much to remember! You should have seen me earlier trying to solve this problem. Before I remembered the string comparisons way of comparing strings, I had this big complicated nested nested for loop with ifs and elses comparing each letter of each word, haha.

Anyway, thanks again, I really appreciate it.

You can remove the else part, because the for-loop guard ensures that i will never be larger than inOrder.length; as soon as it is equal the loop stops.