what does it mean "pass an argument to a method"

[edelric666]

Hi i have been following some online instructions to write a few java programs and the thing says "pass an arguement to a method" what does this actually mean? and how does one go about doing so?

thanks for any help

edelric666

[Fubarable]

Some methods have parameters and when you call these methods you must pass arguments into the parameters. That's all it means.

For example, one overload of the System.out.println method has a String parameter, and below, I'm passing the method the argument "hello world":

System.out.println("hello world");

[edelric666]

thank you, can i ask where you got the example from? because most places i have seen use the "hello world" example and it would be great to find out where this is from.

[Fubarable]

thank you, can i ask where you got the example from?

From a deep recess in my brain. You don't want to go there. Trust me.

...because most places i have seen use the "hello world" example and it would be great to find out where this is from.

That's an interesting question as "hello world" has been a tradition of programming for as long as I remember, predating Java and quite possibly C. It ranks right up there with foo and bar.

edit: no, it does not pre-date C but in fact may have been first seen or at least popularized in an example in one of the first seminal books on C: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_world

[joshdgreen]

Passing Information to a Method or a Constructor (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Classes and Objects)

[pbrockway2]

one of the first seminal books on C

"one of"? Heresy!

The comparatively few pages of K&R's bible remains a model of clarity in a world where the likes of Herbert Schildt have laid waste to whole forests. Anyone new to Java would do well to obtain a copy and read it by way of a change.

Also OP: You now have 2 threads on this. Perhaps you could consider consolidating them into one? Post a link from one to the other.

[edelric666]

no problem i will do it now, and thanks for your help everyone.