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Java

Posted by Erin Leathers
Erin Leathers
3,562 Points

Methods in Java

From what I understand there are two types of Methods:

1.Built in (comes with the compiler)

2.User Defined.

Are there some tips to always spot a method ?

Is there something you can see in the syntax to always find the method ?

Could you say anything after a . is a method ? e.g. system.out.println() ?

Sorry for the question I am just trying to build my findamental knowlege so I dont get lost later.

I will be making other posts with questionns about class , objects, constructers...

If I am asking this at the point I'm at , others are also probably a little confused as well.

Thanks !

1 Answer

Perrin Wilson
Perrin Wilson
1,254 Points
Perrin Wilson
Perrin Wilson
1,254 Points

A dot or . doesn't always indicate a method, but one common characteristic of a method is that they are usually followed by parenthesis. So in your example, System.out.println() , println would be the method be used. The reason methods have parenthesis is because methods are able to take input for example println takes a string to be displayed. Not all methods take input but they will still have parenthesis after the name when they are used. For example .length(). Not everything that has parenthesis is a method, for example things like if statements or while loops have them but it's generally easy to distinguish an if statement from a method call. Lastly, calls to a constructor will also have parenthesis but constructors could be considered a specific type of method, also constructors will always have the same name of the class making them easy to distinguish from other methods.

Hope this answered your question, let me know if you need any clarification.