In Java, a method is a block of code that performs a specific action when it is called. Methods are used to perform certain actions and are also known as functions. They allow code reusability, break a complex program into smaller chunks of code, and increase code readability. A method must be declared within a class and is defined with the name of the method, followed by parentheses (). Java provides some pre-defined methods, such as System.out.println(), but you can also create your own methods to perform certain actions.
The most important method in Java is the main() method. A method can be called by using its name followed by the parentheses and a semicolon. There are two types of methods in Java: predefined and user-defined. Predefined methods are already defined in the Java class libraries and are also known as standard library methods or built-in methods. User-defined methods are written by the programmer according to the requirement.
A method declaration provides information about method attributes, such as visibility, return-type, name, and arguments. The only required elements of a method declaration are the methods return type, name, a pair of parentheses, (), and a body between braces, {}. Method declarations have six components, in order: public, private, and others, void if the method does not return a value, (), and if there are no parameters, you must use empty parentheses.
Java supports overloading methods, and Java can distinguish between methods with different method signatures. This means that methods within a class can have the same name if they have different parameter lists.
