Using Array.getInt(Object array, int index) vs Array[]

Question

I'm trying to retrieve the item at the specified index in an array as shown in the body of the forloop.

public int arrayCount9(int[] nums) {
    int count = 0;

    for (int i = 0; i < nums.length; i ++) {
        if (Array.get(nums, i) == 9) {
            count ++;
        }
    }    
    return count;
}

However, the correct code in this problem is actually this:

public int arrayCount9(int[] nums) {
    int count = 0;

    for (int i = 0; i < nums.length; i ++) {
        if (nums[i] == 9) {
            count ++;
        }
    }
    return count;
}

Is there a difference between Array.get(nums, i) == 9) and (nums[i] == 9)? The documentation for get(Object array,int index) seems suitable for this problem. In addition, I've actually never encountered (nums[i] == 9) before so if you could explain that code as well, much appreciated!

Answer 1

As far as I can tell from the documentation, the most important difference between the two is that Array.get(myArray, myIndex) will return a raw Object, whereas myArray[myIndex] will return a value of the type that myArray stores.

For example, if you have an array of Strings named myStringArray, Array.get(myStringArray, 4) will give you a nondescript Object value, whereas myStringArray[4] will give you a String value.

In general, people tend to use the myArray[myIndex] syntax unless they have a compelling reason not to. It essentially means "get the item in the array named myArray at index myIndex."