Methods - Vocabulary
- access modifier
- There may be an access modifier at the front of
a method header. The access modifier tells which other methods
can call this method.
| keyword | access |
| none | If you don't give an access
modifier, every other method in this package can call it.
This is usually called package access and is
probably the most common type of access.
This is like giving your friends your telephone number. |
| public | Everyone can call it.
You should use public if you want someone
outside your package to call the method. Some
common methods that are declared public are
paint(), init(),
actionPerformed(),
adjustmentValueChanged(), and main().
This is like making your phone number public -- anyone can
call you.
|
| private | No one outside this class can call it.
This is like only letting your family call you. |
| protected | Everyone in this package
and any child classes can use it.
You won't want to use this unless you are
devoloping classes that you expect others
to use for inheritance. |
- actual parameter
- The values in the method call are the actual parameters.
When a call is made, the values of the actual parameters are copied
into the formal parameters.
- formal parameter
- The parameters in the header of a method definition are the
formal parameters.
Formal parameters are like local variables that get their
values from the actual parameters.
- local variable
- Local variables are variables that are declared
in a method. Local variables can only be used in that method
(no other methods can access them). They are created when a method
is called, and destroyed when the method returns.
- method
- A method is a way to put a group of statements together
to do something.
- method body
- Amethod body is the part of the method that contains the declarations
of local variables and the statements. For a non-void function, it must
contain at least one
return statement.
- method definition
- A method definition has two parts: a method header, and
a method body.
- method header
- A method header comes at the beginning and gives
the following information:
- access modifier
- return type
-
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method name
- formal parameters
Need to add: return type, return statement, signature,
static/class methods, instance methods,
overriding, overloading, ... However, each entry should really be marked both
by area (methods, awt, ...), and by level (beginning, intermediate, or
advanced). Hmmm, that will have to come later.