User-defined methods are procedures that can be defined by specifying a return type, name, parameter list and code block.

• Pattern:

  returnType methodName(parameterDeclarations) {
     statements
  }
  				

  where:
  • returnType is the type of value returned by the method or void if the method does not return a value;
  • methodName is the identifier that names method.
  • parameterDeclarations is a comma-separated list of parameter declarations of the form type identifier that is omitted if there are no parameters.
  • statements is a set of statements that define the behavior of the method.

• As an example, consider the the following definition of a computeDistance() method. This method receives from its calling program the x-y coordinates of two points and computes and returns the Euclidean distance between those two points.

  

  Note that Processing already defines a distance method , but defining one ourselves serves as a good illustration.