Java Arrays, Objects, Methods

CS 161 - Java

Java Methods

There are two categories of methods you can write in Java:

Methods that are associated with a class.
They are typically "convenience" or utility methods.
Qualifying a method with the keyword static is what makes a method a class method.

In the earlier Student examples,

 public static void makeSomeStudents( ... )

were all Class methods.

Methods that are associated with the instances of a class, objects of the class data type.
They are used to ask an object to do something, e.g., assign itself a value, perform some operation, return some internal information, identify itself, etc.

In the Student and CSClass examples, methods such as

 public void setGrade( ... )
 public void getName( ... )
 public void listRoster()
 public String toString( ... )

were all instance methods.