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Methods
Liang, Introduction to Java programming, 11th Edition, © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved

By: Mamoun Nawahdah (Ph.D.)

2020

Defining Methods
 A method is a collection of statements that are
grouped together to perform an operation.

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CAUTION
 A return statement is required for a value-returning method.
 The method shown below in (a) is logically correct, but it has a
compilation error because the Java compiler thinks it possible
that this method does not return any value.

 To fix this problem, delete if (n < 0) in (a), so that the compiler

will see a return statement to be reached regardless of how the
if statement is evaluated.

Passing Parameters
public static void nPrintln(String message, int n) {
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
System.out.println(message);
}
 Suppose you invoke the method using
nPrintln(“Welcome to Java”, 5);
What is the output?
 Suppose you invoke the method using
nPrintln(“Computer Science”, 15);
What is the output?
 Can you invoke the method using
nPrintln(15, “Computer Science”); 4

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Ambiguous Invocation

Scope of Local Variables

 A local variable: a variable defined inside
a block (e.g. method, loop).
 Scope: the part of the program where the
variable can be referenced.
 The scope of a local variable starts from
its declaration and continues to the end of
the block that contains the variable.
 A local variable must be declared before it
can be used.
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Scope of Local Variables

 You can declare a local variable with the same
name multiple times in different non-nesting
blocks in a method, but you cannot declare a local
variable twice in nested blocks.

Method Abstraction
 You can think of the method body as a
black box that contains the detailed
implementation for the method.

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Benefits of Methods
• Write a method once and reuse it
anywhere.
• Information hiding. Hide the
implementation from the user.
• Reduce complexity.

The Math Class

 Class constants:
 PI
E
 Class methods:
 Trigonometric Methods
 Exponent Methods
 Rounding Methods
 min, max, abs, and random Methods
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Trigonometric Methods
 sin(double a) Examples:
 cos(double a) Math.sin(0) returns 0.0

 tan(double a) Math.sin(Math.PI / 6) returns 0.5

 acos(double a) Math.sin(Math.PI / 2) returns 1.0

 asin(double a) Math.cos(0) returns 1.0

 atan(double a) Math.cos(Math.PI / 6) returns 0.866

Math.cos(Math.PI / 2) returns 0.0

Radians
Math.toRadians(90)
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Exponent Methods
 exp(double a)
Returns e raised to the power of a.
Examples:
 log(double a)
Math.exp(1) returns 2.71
Returns the natural logarithm of a.
Math.log(2.71) returns 1.0
 log10(double a)
Math.pow(2, 3) returns 8.0
Returns the 10-based logarithm of a.
Math.pow(3, 2) returns 9.0
 pow(double a, double b)
Math.pow(3.5, 2.5) returns 22.917
Returns a raised to the power of b.
Math.sqrt(4) returns 2.0
 sqrt(double a)
Math.sqrt(10.5) returns 3.24
Returns the square root of a.

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Rounding Methods
double ceil(double x) x rounded up to its nearest
integer. This integer is returned as a double value.
double floor(double x) x is rounded down to its nearest
integer. This integer is returned as a double value.
double rint(double x) x is rounded to its nearest integer.
If x is equally close to two integers, the even one is
returned as a double.
int round(float x) Return (int)Math.floor(x+0.5).
long round(double x) Return (long)Math.floor(x+0.5).

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min, max, and abs

max(a, b) and min(a, b)
Returns the maximum or Examples:
minimum of two parameters. Math.max(2, 3) returns 3

abs(a) Math.max(2.5, 3) returns 3.0

Returns the absolute value of Math.min(2.5, 3.6) returns 2.5
the parameter.
Math.abs(-2) returns 2
random() Math.abs(-2.1) returns 2.1
Returns a random double value
in the range [0.0, 1.0).

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The random Method

 Generates a random double value greater than
or equal to 0.0 and less than 1.0
(0 <= Math.random() < 1.0)

In general:

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Case Study: Computing Angles of a Triangle

Write a program that prompts the user to enter

the x- and y-coordinates of the three corner points
in a triangle and then displays the triangle’s angles.

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