access array from another classes in java

[flyhigh]

what is the best way to access the array from different classes?

do i replace foo with the class that im in?

do i replace arr with the array i want to get?

thanks

////////////////////////

class Foo{
  private int arr[];
  public int[] getArr(){
    return this.arr;
  }
}
//from other class now

new Foo().getArr();or else it needs to be static
///////////////////////////////////////////////
class Foo{
  public static int arr[];
}

//from other class
int arr[] = Foo.arr;

[flyhigh]

hey i put the first code in a class that will call the array and in the second code i put in the shuffler .
but im getting an error java.lang.NullPointerException .


am i doing it right ,i really need to access the arrays with everything in them.
thanks

             int playershand[][] = Shuffler.playershand;
	int computerhand[][] = Shuffler.computerhand;
	int boneyard[][] = Shuffler.boneyard;

               static int playershand[][];
	  public static int[][] getplayershand(){
	    return playershand;
	  }
	  static int computerhand[][];
	  public static int[][] getcomputerhand(){
	    return computerhand;
	  }
	  static int boneyard[][];
	  public static int[][] getboneyard(){
	    return boneyard;
	  }

[flyhigh]

from everything ive read today i guess this aint a good idea.
thanks all

[flyhigh]

hey yall i still cant understand why passing an array is so bad, dont you pass single numbers all the time ,then some people call it a bad pratice,the program is designed to do things the fastest possible ,right?
thanks all

[DarrylBurke]

An array is a reference type. Once a method returns the array to the outside world, the calling method can change the value of elements of the array.

It's better to return a clone of the array.

db

[flyhigh]

you mean on the first one?
so if i clone it only the clone can be messed up?
thanks

[quad64bit]

Depends. Passing an array can be bad from an OOP perspective, or it could be totally fine. It depends on the context. If I want to search a collection for a name for instance, then it would be silly to retrieve the entire collection for the class that holds it and look myself - it would make more sense for the class that holds it to have a search or find method which I could simply pass parameters to and have it give me a result. That's all part of making your code modular and loosely coupled.