Can we define an enum inside a method in Java?

Enumerations in Java represents a group of named constants, you can create an enumeration using the following syntax −

enum Days {    SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY }

We can an enumeration inside a class. But, we cannot define an enum inside a method. If you try to do so it generates a compile time error saying “enum types must not be local”.

Example

public class EnumExample{    public void sample() {       enum Vehicles {          Activa125, Activa5G, Access125, Vespa, TVSJupiter;       }    } }

Error

EnumExample.java:3: error: enum types must not be local       enum Vehicles {       ^ 1 error

To use the enum constants inside a method declare the required enum inside a class and use its constants inside a method using the values().

Example

Live Demo

public class EnumerationExample {    enum Enum {       Mango, Banana, Orange, Grapes, Thursday, Apple    }    public void testMethod(){       Enum constants[] = Enum.values();       System.out.println("Value of constants: ");         for(Enum d: constants) {          System.out.println(d);       }    }    public static void main(String args[]) {       EnumerationExample obj = new EnumerationExample();       obj.testMethod();          } }

Output

Value of constants: Mango Banana Orange Grapes Thursday Apple