public class SomeClass { // Instance variable(s) private int[] theData; // Constructor(s) public SomeClass() { // constructor code goes here } . . . /** Populate the data in some way. */ public void populateData() { // code to populate theData instance variable goes here // (e.g., might read it from a file) } . . . /** Search for given value; return index. */ public int search(int searchValue) { for ( int i = 0; i < theData.length; i++ ) { if ( theData[i] == searchValue ) { return i; } } return -1; } . . . }