Page 245 - ComputerScience_Class_11

• They also occupy less space in memory and the execution becomes faster.
The general syntax of declaring a method:

<access specifier> <return-type> <name-of-method> <parameter-list>
{
Job done by the method;
}

For example,
public int twice (int n)
{
int tw=n*2;
return tw;
}
Explanation:

Here, “twice” is the name of the method. The word “int” stands for integer and it indicates that the method returns an
integer value to the calling method. “public” means that the method can be accessed from anywhere and the body of
the method prints twice the value of ‘n’.

9.3 PARTS OF A METHOD
There are various parts of a method which are as listed below:
• Method Header
• Method Signature
• Access Specifier
• Return Type and Return Statement
• Method Name
• Parameter List
• Body of the Method

Let us study these parts of a method in detail:

9.3.1 Method Header
The first line of any method definition is known as the method header or method prototype. It consists of the access
specifier, return data type, method name and the parameter list. Let us consider the following example:

public int twice (int n)

Parameter List

Method Name
Return Type
Access Specifier

9.3.2 Method Signature
The name of the method along with its parameter list in the method header is called the method signature. It is the
identification of the method in the programming code, which also specifies the different parameters used in that
method, which are known as arguments.
Example:

twice (int i)

Methods and Constructors 243