PhoneEntry[] phoneBook = new PhoneEntry[ 5 ] ;

Skeleton Application

Yes, you already knew that. But it is easy to forget. Here is a skeleton of the application:

class PhoneEntry
{
  String name;    // name of a person
  String phone;   // their phone number

  PhoneEntry( String n, String p )
  {
    name = n; phone = p;
  }
}

class PhoneBook
{ 
  PhoneEntry[] phoneBook; 

  PhoneBook()    // constructor
  {
    phoneBook = new PhoneEntry[ 5 ] ;
 
    // load the phone book with data
    . . . .   
  }

  PhoneEntry search( String targetName )  
  {
    // use linear search to find the targetName
    . . . .
  }
}

class PhoneBookTester
{
  public static void main ( String[] args )
  {
    PhoneBook pb = new PhoneBook();  
  
    // search for "Violet Smith"
    PhoneEntry entry = 
        pb.search( "Violet Smith" ); 

    if ( entry != null )
      System.out.println( entry.name + 
          ": " + entry.phone );
    else
      System.out.println("Name not found" );

  }
}

The class PhoneBook contains both the data and the search method. The search method returns a reference to the PhoneEntry that matches the name being sought.