3.1 Methods — where a method lives

A method sits next to main

Until now everything you wrote went inside main. A method is different: it is declared inside the class but outside main — as a second block, next to it. Then main calls it by name.

So a program with a method has three layers: the class on the outside, and inside it two blocks side by side — your method and main.

Worked example

public class Main {

    static void sayHi() {          // the method: declared next to main
        System.out.println("Hi!");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        sayHi();                   // main calls it
        sayHi();                   // and can call it again
    }
}

Two things to notice. The word static is what lets main call the method directly — treat it as part of the recipe for now. And a method does nothing until it is called: declaring sayHi prints nothing by itself.

The order does not matter: the method may be written above or below main, and the program behaves the same.

▶ Try it: the whole program is here — method and main together. Run it, then add a third sayHi(); call, or move the method below main and run again.