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

© luv2code LLC
 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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