Question

Consider the following incomplete method, which is intended to return the longest string in the string array words. Assume that the array contains at least one element.

public static String longestWord(String[] words)
{
/* missing declaration and initialization */
for (int k = 1; k < words.length; k++)
{
if (words[k].length() > longest.length())
{
longest = words[k];
}
}
return longest;
}

Which of the following can replace /* missing declaration and initialization */ so that the method will work as intended?

a. int longest = 0;
b. int longest = words[0].length();
c. String longest = "";
d. String longest = words[0];
e. String longest = words[1];

Answer 1

Answer:

String longest = "";

Explanation:

The initialization that would allow the method to work as intended would be the following

String longest = "";

This is because the method is looping through the array provided as an argument and comparing each word in the array with the word saved inside the variable called longest. The length of both are compared and if the word in the array is longer than the string saved in the variable longest then it is overwritten with the word in the array.