📖 Lecture 4: Methods and Scope

• Methods: Blocks of code that run only when called, used to reuse code [14]. They are defined with parameters (inputs) and a return type (or void if they return nothing) [15, 16].
  • When passing primitive variables to a method, a copy is passed. Changes inside the method do not affect the original variable [17].
  • Variable Arguments (Varargs): Written as int... a, allowing a method to accept an arbitrary number of arguments. It must be the last parameter in the method signature [17].
• Method Overloading: Creating multiple methods with the same name but different parameters (type or count) inside the same class [18].
• Access Modifiers:
  • public (accessible anywhere), private (accessible only inside the same class), protected (same package and subclasses), and default (same package only) [15].
• Non-Access Modifiers:
  • static: Belongs to the class, can be called without creating an object [15, 17].
  • final: Cannot be overridden [15].
  • abstract: Declared but not implemented [15].
• Scope: Variables are only accessible inside the region (block {}) where they are created [17].
• Recursion: A method calling itself to solve smaller instances of a problem (e.g., calculating powers) [19, 20].