What's the difference between a method and a function?

Question

Can someone provide a simple explanation of methods vs. functions in OOP context?

Answer 1

Historically, there may have been a subtle difference with a "method" being something which does not return a value, and a "function" one which does.Each language has its own lexicon of terms with special meaning.

In "C", the word "function" means a program routine.

In Java, the term "function" does not have any special meaning. Whereas "method" means one of the routines that forms the implementation of a class.

In C# that would translate as:

public void DoSomething() {} // method
public int DoSomethingAndReturnMeANumber(){} // function

But really, I re-iterate that there is really no difference in the 2 concepts. If you use the term "function" in informal discussions about Java, people will assume you meant "method" and carry on. Don't use it in proper documents or presentations about Java, or you will look silly.