Programmer's Guide to Java™ Certification, A: A Comprehensive Primer, Second Edition

4.3. Defining Methods

The general syntax of a method declaration is

<method modifiers> <return type> <method name> (<formal parameter list>)         <throws clause> // Method prototype{ // Method body    <local variable declarations>    <nested local class declarations>    <statements>}

In addition to the name of the method, the method prototype can specify the following information:

• scope or accessibility modifier (see Section 4.5, p. 121)

• additional method modifiers (see Section 4.10, p. 144)

• the type of the return value, or void if the method does not return any value (see Section 5.4, p. 176)

• a formal parameter list

• checked exceptions thrown by the method in a throws clause (see Section 5.9, p. 201)

The formal parameter list is a comma-separated ...