Methods
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Methods
• A method is a block of code that is executed when you call i
• You can add your own custom code to a metho
• Methods are useful for code reuse, readability and maintenance
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Development Process
• Step 1: De ne the metho
fi
d
• Step 2: Call the method
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Basic Example
Reusable block of code
Step 1: Define the method
static void displayGreetings()
System.out.println("Hello world!")
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
Step 2: Call the method
public static void main(String[] args)
Hello world
displayGreetings() Welcome, welcome
Please make yourself at home.
;
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General Syntax
primitive data types
public, private, protected static for or class Any collection of
Any method name
or nothing class methods (predefined or custom) parameters
[access modifier] [static] [return type] [method name]([params])
// code to execut
}
code to execute
We will cover
public, private, protected
in detail later in the course
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Applying Syntax to our example
primitive data types or
class
public, private, protected (predefined or custom) Any collection of
static for Any method name
or nothing parameters
class methods
void: returns nothing
static void displayGreetings()
System.out.println("Hello world!")
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
code to execute
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Pulling it all together
public class MethodDemo
public static void main(String[] args)
// call the metho
displayGreetings()
Hello world
// define the metho Welcome, welcome
d
static void displayGreetings() Please make yourself at home.
System.out.println("Hello world!")
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
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Method Parameters and Method Overloading
© luv2code LLC
Method Parameters
• We can pass parameters to a metho
• The method can perform a task based on the inpu
• computeGradeAverage( …
• displayManyGreetings( …
• searchForCustomersWithLastName(“Davis”)
• This promotes code reus
e
• Reuse the same method in different contexts based on the input / method parameters
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Passing parameter to methods
<type> <param name>
Step 1: Define the method
static void displayManyGreetings(int count)
Display our greeting 3 times
for (int i=1; i <= count; i++)
System.out.println("Hello world!")
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
Hello world
System.out.println() ;
Welcome, welcome
Please make yourself at home
}
Hello world
Step 2: Call the method
Welcome, welcome
Please make yourself at home
public static void main(String[] args)
Hello world
displayManyGreetings(3) Welcome, welcome
Please make yourself at home.
}
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Pulling it all together
public class MethodDemo
public static void main(String[] args)
// call the metho Display our greeting 3 times
displayManyGreetings(3)
static void displayManyGreetings(int count)
Hello world
for (int i=1; i <= count; i++) Welcome, welcome
System.out.println("Hello world!") Please make yourself at home
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
Hello world
System.out.println()
Welcome, welcome
;
Please make yourself at home
}
static void displayGreetings()
{
System.out.println("Hello world!") Hello world
;
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
Welcome, welcome
;
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
Please make yourself at home.
}
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Did you notice anything???
public class MethodDemo
public static void main(String[] args)
// call the metho
displayManyGreetings(3)
static void displayManyGreetings(int count)
for (int i=1; i <= count; i++)
System.out.println("Hello world!")
Same code from method:
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
displayGreetings()
System.out.println()
;
static void displayGreetings()
{
System.out.println("Hello world!")
;
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
;
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
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Refactor: Call existing method
public class MethodDemo
public static void main(String[] args)
// call the metho
displayManyGreetings(3)
static void displayManyGreetings(int count)
for (int i=1; i <= count; i++)
displayGreetings(); Call existing method:
System.out.println()
displayGreetings()
;
static void displayGreetings()
{
System.out.println("Hello world!")
;
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
;
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
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Method Overloading
• We can have multiple methods with the same nam
• This is known as method overloading
• Simply provide different parameters
• Different parameter types and number of parameters
• In our example, we can overload the method name: displayGreetings
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Overloaded method example: displayGreetings
public class MethodDemo Call the displayGreetings method
public static void main(String[] args) that has
one parameter of type int
// call the metho
displayGreetings(3)
static void displayGreetings(int count)
Both methods have the same name: displayGreetings
for (int i=1; i <= count; i++)
displayGreetings();
Differ in the parameter types and number of parameters
System.out.println() Java will match on the appropriate method
;
and call accordingly
}
static void displayGreetings() If there is an issue, you will have a compilation error
{
System.out.println("Hello world!")
;
System.out.println("Welcome, welcome.")
;
System.out.println("Please make yourself at home.")
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Methods: Return Value
© luv2code LLC
Method Return Value
• A method can perform an operation based on the input and return a valu
• double computeGradeAverage( …
• int getInventoryCountForProduct( …
• Customer searchForCustomerWithId( … )
• Return type can be a
• primitive: int, double,
…
• class: prede ned or custom,
fi
…
• …
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Example: Summation
• Create a method to calculate a summation of a numbe
• A summation adds all numbers from 1 to a given numbe
• For example
:
• summation(3) = 1+2+3 =
• summation(5) = 1+2+3+4+5 = 15
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Example: Summation
Step 1: Define the method
A summation adds all numbers from
static int summation(int num) 1 to a given number
int result = 0
;
for (int i=1; i <= num; i++)
result += i
result = result + i;
;
return result
Return the result from the method
;
Step 2: Call the method
public static void main(String[] args)
{
int val = 5
;
int output = summation(val)
Summation of 5 is 15
;
System.out.println("Summation of " + val + " is " + output)
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Pulling it all together
public class MethodReturnDataDemo
public static void main(String[] args)
int val = 5
;
int output = summation(val)
System.out.println("Summation of " + val + " is " + output)
static int summation(int num)
int result = 0
;
for (int i=1; i <= num; i++) {
result += i Summation of 5 is 15
;
return result
;
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Refactor: Use a mathematical formula
public class MethodReturnDataDemo
public static void main(String[] args)
int val = 5;
int output = summation(val)
System.out.println("Summation of " + val + " is " + output)
static int summation(int num)
{
int result = num * (num + 1) / 2
return result
;
} Summation of 5 is 15
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Methods: Recursion
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Recursion
• Recursion is an approach where a method calls itself to solve a proble
• Breaks a complex problem into smaller problems
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Recursion: Use Cases
• Mathematical operations: factorial, bonacci,
fi
…
• Sorting and searching algorithms: quicksort, mergesort,
• Graphics: fractals, mandelbrot,
• Arti cial intelligence: supervised learning, natural language processing, …
fi
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Recursion: Key Components
• Base Case
• Condition that stops the recursio
• Very important, without base case, code will run in nitely
fi
• Recursive Case
:
• Break the problem into a smaller proble
• Methods calls itself using modi ed parameters for smaller problem
fi
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Example: Factorial
• Create a method to calculate a factorial of a numbe
• A factorial multiples all numbers from 1 to a given number
• For example
:
• factorial(3) = 3*2*1 =
• factorial(5) = 5*4*3*2*1 = 12
• factorial(0) = 1 Special case: 0! = 1
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Factorial Approaches
• There are two approaches for computing the factoria
• Iterativ
e
• Recursive
• We will focus on the recursive approach to demonstrate recursion
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Compute Factorial using Recursion
Recursive case
factorial(5) = 5 * factorial(4 Recursive case
= 5 * 4 * factorial(3 Recursive case
= 5 * 4 * 3 * factorial(2 Recursive case
= 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * factorial(1 Base case
= 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 * factorial(0
= 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 *
= 120
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Example: Factorial
Step 1: Define the method
static int factorial(int num)
// base case: 0! = 1
if (num == 0)
{
return 1
;
else
{
// recursive case: num! = num * (num-1)!
return num * factorial(num - 1)
Step 2: Call the method
public static void main(String[] args)
{
int val = 5
Factorial of 5 is 120
;
int result = factorial(val)
;
System.out.println("Factorial of " + val + " is " + result)
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Pulling it all together
public class RecursionDemo
public static void main(String[] args)
int val = 5
;
int result = factorial(val)
System.out.println("Factorial of " + val + " is " + result)
static int factorial(int num)
// base case: 0! = 1
if (num == 0)
{
return 1
;
else
{
// recursive case: num! = num * (num-1)!
return num * factorial(num - 1) Factorial of 5 is 120
;
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