Java - Calling a method that returns a string of ints from an array

"I am working with a program in which I need to use a method call to return a String from an int array."

If this isn't a homework problem, you can simply use Arrays.toString(int[] array).

String myString = Arrays.toString(myIntArray);

Otherwise, maybe you can do something like this:

String getStringFromIntArray(int[] array) {
  StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
  for (int num : array)
    builder.append(num)
  return builder.toString();
}

Try looking into the StringBuilder class. The specification for Java 6 is here.

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/StringBuilder.html

You would need a StringBuilder object and just append the value to the object using the .append() function.

as long as this.getPocketCount(i); gives you the value of the array on position i:

public String toString() {
    String returnstring= "";    //init empty string
    for (int i = 0; i < NUM_POCKETS; i++) {
        returnstring += this.getPocketCount(i)+" "; //append(concat) to string
    }
    returnstring = returnstring.substring(0, returnstring.length()-1);  //remove the last " "
    return returnstring;    //return string
}

the + sign appends the next string "Hello"+" "+"World" becomes "Hello World"

Edit:

public String toString() {
    String returnstring= "";    //init empty string
    for (int i = 0; i < NUM_POCKETS-1; i++) { //-1 to place last later
        returnstring += this.getPocketCount(i)+" "; //append to string
    }
    returnstring += this.getPocketCount(NUM_POCKETS-1)  //append the last value
    return returnstring;    //return string
}

Assuming you specifically want to build your String from within the loop, you could use a StringBuilder. It is more verbose than the one-liner offered by Arrays.toString(), but you asked for it:

e.g.

public String toString() {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(NUM_POCKETS);
    for (int i = 0; i < NUM_POCKETS; i++) {
        sb.append(this.getPocketCount(i));
    }
    return sb.toString();
}

Using a StringBuilder within a loop is faster than performing concatenation of each individual element. See: when to use StringBuilder in java