METHODS IN JAVA
An Introduction
OBJECTIVES
• Define method, parameters and arguments.
• Discuss how methods are used in writing programs in Java.
• Write a Java program implementing methods.
• Compare programs written in Java using methods and without methods.
OPENING PROBLEM
Find the sum of integers from 1 to 10, from 20 to 30, and
from 35 to 45, respectively.
3
PROBLEM
int sum = 0;
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
sum += i;
System.out.println("Sum from 1 to 10 is " + sum);
sum = 0;
for (int i = 20; i <= 30; i++)
sum += i;
System.out.println("Sum from 20 to 30 is " + sum);
sum = 0;
for (int i = 35; i <= 45; i++)
sum += i;
System.out.println("Sum from 35 to 45 is " + sum);
4
PROBLEM
int sum = 0;
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
sum += i;
System.out.println("Sum from 1 to 10 is " + sum);
sum = 0;
for (int i = 20; i <= 30; i++)
sum += i;
System.out.println("Sum from 20 to 30 is " + sum);
sum = 0;
for (int i = 35; i <= 45; i++)
sum += i;
System.out.println("Sum from 35 to 45 is " + sum);
5
SOLUTION
public static int sum(int i1, int i2) {
int sum = 0;
for (int i = i1; i <= i2; i++)
sum += i;
return sum;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Sum from 1 to 10 is " + sum(1, 10));
System.out.println("Sum from 20 to 30 is " + sum(20, 30));
System.out.println("Sum from 35 to 45 is " + sum(35, 45));
}
6
WHAT IS A METHOD?
• A method is a block of code which only runs when it is called.
• A method is a collection of statements that are grouped together to perform an operation.
• You can pass data, known as parameters, into a method.
• Methods are used to perform certain actions, and they are also known as functions.
• Why use methods? To reuse code: define the code once and use it many times.
CREATE A METHOD Example: Create a method inside Main:
• A method must be declared within a class.
It is defined with the name of the method,
followed by parentheses ().
• Java provides some pre-defined methods,
such as System.out.println(), but you can
also create your own methods to perform
certain actions:
EXAMPLE EXPLAINED
• myMethod() is the name of the method
• static means that the method belongs to the Main
class and not an object of the Main class.
• void means that this method does not have a
return value.
CALL A METHOD Inside main, call the myMethod() method:
• To call a method in Java, write the
method's name followed by two
parentheses () and a semicolon;
• In the following
example, myMethod() is used to
print a text (the action), when it is
called:
A METHOD
CAN ALSO BE
CALLED
MULTIPLE
TIMES:
PARAMETERS AND ARGUMENTS
• Information can be passed to methods as parameter.
• Parameters act as variables inside the method.
• Parameters are specified after the method name, inside the parentheses. You
can add as many parameters as you want, just separate them with a comma.
PARAMETERS
AND ARGUMENTS
• The following example has a
method that takes
a String called firstname as
parameter.
• When the method is called,
we pass along a first name,
which is used inside the
method to print the full
name:
PARAMETERS
AND ARGUMENTS
• When a parameter is passed
to the method, it is called
an argument. So, from the
example: firstname is
a parameter, while Angela,
Mark and Cristelle
are arguments.
MULTIPLE
PARAMETERS
• You can have as many
parameters as you like:
RETURN VALUES
• The void keyword, used in the examples
above, indicates that the method should
not return a value.
• If you want the method to return a
value, you can use a primitive data type
(such as int, char, etc.) instead of void,
and use the return keyword inside the
method:
THIS EXAMPLE
RETURNS THE
SUM OF A
METHOD'S TWO
PARAMETERS:
• You can also store
the result in a
variable
(recommended, as
it is easier to read
and maintain):
A METHOD WITH
IF...ELSE
• It is common to
use if...else statements
inside methods:
JAVA METHOD OVERLOADING
• With method overloading, multiple methods can have the same name with different
parameters:
Example:
int myMethod(int x)
float myMethod(float x)
double myMethod(double x, double y)
JAVA METHOD
OVERLOADING
• Consider the following
example, which has
two methods that add
numbers of different
type:
JAVA METHOD
OVERLOADING
• Instead of defining two
methods that should do the
same thing, it is better to
overload one.
• In the example below, we
overload
the AdditionMethod method
to work for
both int and double:
JAVA SCOPE
• In Java, variables are only accessible inside the region they are created.
• This is called scope.
METHOD SCOPE
• Variables declared directly inside
a method are available anywhere
in the method following the line
of code in which they were
declared:
BLOCK SCOPE
• A block of code refers to all of the
code between curly braces {}.
• Variables declared inside blocks of
code are only accessible by the
code between the curly braces,
which follows the line in which the
variable was declared:
BLOCK SCOPE
• A block of code may exist on its own or it can belong to an if, while or for statement.
• In the case of for statements, variables declared in the statement itself are also available inside
the block's scope.
SAMPLE
PROGRAM
USING
METHODS
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
1. Based on the given sample program, add a
method to multiply two integers and a method to
divide two integers.
2. Apply method overloading to minimize the given
sample code.
ACCEPTING
INPUT FROM
THE USER
REFERENCES:
• https://www.w3schools.com/java/java_methods.asp
