How to create a static method in a non-static class

Question

"Write a DieTester class with a main() method that creates two die objects, rolls both dice, print the value of each die, store the sum of the roll in a variable, and prints the variable.

If the die have an equal value, then call a method named getMessage() , with the sum as input (see below) and print the returned String.

Write a static method called getMessage() that takes the sum (an integer) as input. The method returns a string corresponding to the table that corresponds to the given sum."

My question is, how do I create a static method inside of a non-static class? I cannot get this to compile for the life of me and I know it has to be something simple that I am just not understanding.
I am only referring to the getMessage() method, not the rest of the code.

UPDATE: Fixed and working perfectly. Had to seperate the getMessage() method from the main() method and then fix a few mistakes with integers and strings. Also added an if statement to print the output as a string depending on if the die equaled each other.

public class DieTester2
{
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {

        Die die1 = new Die();
        Die die2 = new Die();

        die1.setSides(6);
        die2.setSides(6);

        die1.roll();
        System.out.println("Die 1: " + die1.getValue());

        die2.roll();
        System.out.println("Die 2: " + die2.getValue());

        int sum = (die1.getValue() + die2.getValue());
        System.out.println("Sum: " + sum);

        if(die1.getValue() == die2.getValue())
        {
        System.out.println(getMessage(sum));
        }
}
        public static String getMessage(int sum) {

            String message;

            switch (sum)
            {

                case 2:
                message = "Snake Eyes!";
                break;

                case 4:
                message = "Four, the hard way!";
                break;

                case 6:
                message = "Hard Six!";
                break;

                case 8:
                message = "Eight, the hard way!";
                break;

                case 10:
                message = "Hard Ten";
                break;

                case 12:
                message = "Box Cars!";
                break;

                default:
                message = "Something went wrong";
                break;

           }

           return message;

        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Just keep the public static int getMessage() outside main . And also you should use String as return type and return string.

 public class DieTester2
    {
        public static void main(String[] args) 
        {

        Die die1 = new Die();
        Die die2 = new Die();

        die1.setSides(6);
        die2.setSides(6);

        die1.roll();
        System.out.println("Die 1: " + die1.getValue());

        die2.roll();
        System.out.println("Die 2: " + die2.getValue());

        int sum = (die1.getValue() + die2.getValue());
        System.out.println("Sum: " + sum);
      }

        public static int getMessage() {

            int message = 0;

            switch (message)
            {

            case 2:
            System.out.println("Snake Eyes!");
            break;

            case 4:
            System.out.println("Four, the hard way!");
            break;

            case 6:
            System.out.println("Hard Six!");
            break;

            case 8:
            System.out.println("Eight, the hard way!");
            break;

            case 10:
            System.out.println("Hard Ten");
            break;

            case 12:
            System.out.println("Box Cars!");
            break;

            default:
            System.out.println("Something went wrong");
            break;

            }

               return message;

            }

    }

Answer 2

You can follow the following structure: Just put the getMessage() outside main() .

public class DieTester2{
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // write your code here
        if(die1.getValue() == die2.getValue()){
            String message = getMessage(die1.getValue() + die2.getValue());
            // do whatever you need to do with message
        }
    }

    public static String getMessage(int sum) {
        String message;
        switch (sum){
            case 2:
                message = "Snake Eyes!";
                break;
            case 4:
                message = "Four, the hard way!";
                break;
            case 6:
                message = "Hard Six!";
                break;
            case 8:
                message = "Eight, the hard way!";
                break;
            case 10:
                message = "Hard Ten";
                break;
            case 12:
                message = "Box Cars!";
                break;
            default:
                message = "Something went wrong";
                break;
        }
        return message;
    }
}

Answer 3

Write a static method called getMessage

Alright, you got that public static int getMessage()

that takes the sum (an integer) as input

Oops, not quite... You need a parameter for the input int.

The method returns a string

Returns String , not int . Change your method type.

print the String returned

You can just return "something"; instead of break , and then you can actually "print the message returned"

System.out.println(getMessage(sum))