Methods in Java

Day 3

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2017 -Vaibhav Diwan
 Methods
• A class contains data declarations (static and instance
variables) and method declarations (behaviors)

class Month
int month;
int year Data declarations

Method declarations

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 Method Types
There can be various types of methods (behavior declarations)
– access methods : read or display states (or those that can be
derived)
– predicate methods : test the truth of some conditions
– action methods, e.g., print
– constructors: a special type of methods
they have the same name as the class
– there may be more then one constructor per class (overloaded
constructors)
they do not return any value
– it has no return type, not even void
they initialize objects of the class, using the new construct:
– e.g. m1 = new Month();
you do not have to define a constructor
– the value of the state variables have default value

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 Methods
• A program that provides some functionality can be long and
contains many statements

• A method groups a sequence of statements and should

provide a well-defined, easy-to-understand functionality

– a method takes input, performs actions, and produces output

• In Java, each method is defined within specific class

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 General method declarations

• Header
qualifiers properties return-type
method-name ( formal-parameters )
throws-clause
• Body
{
Statements;
}

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2017 -Vaibhav Diwan
 Method Declaration: Header

• A method declaration begins with a method header

class MyClass
{ …
public static int min ( int num1, int num2 )

parameter list
The parameter list specifies the type
method
and name of each parameter
name
Qualifiers
return The name of a parameter in the method
type declaration is called a formal argument

properties
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2017 -Vaibhav Diwan
 Method Declaration: Body
The header is followed by the method body:

class MyClass
{
…
static int min(int num1, int num2)
{
int minValue = num1 < num2 ? num1 : num2;
return minValue;
}

…
}

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2017 -Vaibhav Diwan
 The return Statement

• The return type of a method indicates the type

of value that the method sends back to the
calling location
– A method that does not return a value has a
void return type

• The return statement specifies the value that

will be returned
– Its expression must conform to the return type
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 Calling a Method
• A method can be called by object of the class.
Using dot operator.
– objectName.methodName(parameter list);
• A static method can be called directly
independent of object.
– ClassName.methodName(parameter list);
• Within a class method can be called directly
– mehtodName(parameter list);

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2017 -Vaibhav Diwan
 Multiple invocations or calling

• At any given point in time, a single method

may have been invoked through multiple
locations in a program.
• Every invocation gets its own copy of the
methods local variables (including the
formal parameters)
• A method may even call invoke itself. This
is called recursion.

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 Calling a Method
• Each time a method is called, the values of the
actual arguments in the invocation are assigned
to the formal arguments
int num = min (2, 3);

static int min (int num1, int num2)

{
int minValue = (num1 < num2 ? num1 : num2);
return minValue;
}

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 Method Control Flow
• A method can call another method, who
can call another method, …
main
min(num1, num2, num3) println()

min(1, 2, 3);
…println(…)

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 Method Overloading
• A class may define multiple methods with the same name-
--this is called method overloading
– usually perform the same task on different data types

• Example: The PrintStream class defines multiple println

methods, i.e., println is overloaded:
println (String s)
println (int i)
println (double d)
…
• The following lines use the System.out.print method for
different data types:
System.out.println ("The total is:");
double total = 0;
System.out.println (total);
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 Method Overloading: Signature

• The compiler must be able to determine which

version of the method is being invoked
• This is by analyzing the parameters, which form the
signature of a method
– the signature includes the type and order of the
parameters
• if multiple methods match a method call, the compiler picks the
best match
• if none matches exactly but some implicit conversion can be done
to match a method, then the method is invoke with implicit
conversion.
– the return type of the method is not part of the signature
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 Method Overloading
Version 1 Version 2

double tryMe (int x) double tryMe (int x, double y)

{ {
return x + .375; return x * y;
} }

Invocation

result = tryMe (25, 4.32)

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 Two Types of
Parameter Passing
If a modification of the formal argument has
no effect on the actual argument,
– it is call by value

If a modification of the formal argument can

change the value of the actual argument,
– it is call by reference

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 Call-By-Value and
Call-By-Reference in Java
• Depend on the type of the formal argument
• If a formal argument is a primitive data type, a modification
on the formal argument has no effect on the actual
argument
– this is call by value, e.g. num1 = min(2, 3);
num2 = min(x, y);
• This is because primitive data types variables contain their
values, and procedure call trigger an assignment:
<formal argument> = <actual argument>

int x = 2; int y = 3; int x = 2;

int num = min (x, y); int y = 3;
… int num1 = x;
static int num( int num1, int num2) int num2 = y;
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 Call-By-Value and
Call-By-Reference in Java
• If a formal argument is not a primitive data type, an
operation on the formal argument can change the actual
argument
– this is call by reference
• This is because variables of object type contain pointers to
the data that represents the object
• Since procedure call triggers an assignment
<formal argument> = <actual argument>
it is the pointer that is copied, not the object itself!
MyClass x = new MyClass(); x = new MC();
MyClass y = new MyClass(); y = new MC();
MyClass.swap( x, y);
x1 = x;
…
static void swap( MyClass x1, MyClass x2)
x2 = y;
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 THANK YOU

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