Access level
The part of a method declaration that determines if the method can be called by other classes.
Access modifier
A keyword in the declaration of a method that determines the access level of a method.
Argument
The value or variable passed to a method.
Call
A statement that contains a method name followed by parentheses.
Boundary value
A value that lies just inside or just outside the range of valid values.
Class method
A method that can be called from the class itself.
Local
Variables, constants, and objects that are declared within a method and therefore have a scope limited to that method.
Method body
The statements that implement a method.
Method declaration
The first line of a method, which contains the method name, access level, return type, and parameters, if any.
Method overloading
Writing more than one method of the same name in a class.
Method parameters
The part of a method declaration that accepts values from the method call.
Pass
Giving data to a method by enclosing the data in parentheses in the method call.
Pass by value
Passing the value of an argument to a method. The type of data passed depends on whether the argument is a primitive or an object.
Precondition
The part of a method's documentation that states the assumptions, or initial requirements, of the method. Also called pre.
Procedural abstraction
Breaking a task down into methods.
Postcondition
The part of a method's documentation that states what must be true after the method has been executed. Also called post.
Top-down development
A problem-solving approach where a task is broken down into subtasks and then the subtasks are reduced to yet simpler tasks.
Visibility
The access level of a method.
/*
/
Used to enclose documentation comments for a method.
public
An access modifier used in the declaration of a method to indicate that the method is visible to any other class.
static
A keyword used in the declaration of a method to indicate that the method is a class method.
Void
A keyword used in the declaration of a method to indicate that the method will not return a value.
Return
Statement used to send a value from a method back to the calling statement.