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Method Acting

Simply put, methods are blocks of code containing a group of statements. They are functions that define a set of actions a type can perform; they can return output values and take input parameters.

In C#, methods are synonymous (the same) with functions, but their use has one significant difference: methods can only be defined in a type.

// Define a Person Type.
public class Person
{
		private string _name = "John Doe";

		// Method defined in Person.
		public void SetName(string name)
		{
    		_name = name;
		}
}

Signatures Only

Declaring a method is when you define its signature, which consists of an access modifier, optional modifier, return type, the method name, and any parameters. This is also called the method definition.

{accessor}-{modifier}-{type}-{MethodName}({ parameter }) { method body }
{public}---{none}-----{void}-{SetName}---({string name}) { method body }

A method can have more than one signature but not two identical signatures.

// Signature 1.
public void SetName(string name)
{
		_name = name;
}

// Signature 2: This results in an error!
public void SetName(string firstName)
{
		_name = firstName;
}

<aside> <img src="/icons/report_red.svg" alt="/icons/report_red.svg" width="40px" /> Pro-Tip

<aside> <img src="/icons/light-bulb_lightgray.svg" alt="/icons/light-bulb_lightgray.svg" width="40px" /> Every executed statement (line of code) is done within a method.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/light-bulb_lightgray.svg" alt="/icons/light-bulb_lightgray.svg" width="40px" /> The return type is not part of the method signature. This will only apply when checking compatibility with a delegate.

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