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De - Pt| English Dictionary: 'Method | by the DICT Development Group |
| 2 results for 'Method | |
| From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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Method \Meth"od\, n. [F. m[82]thode, L. methodus, fr. Gr. meqodos method, investigation following after; meta` after + "odo`s way.] 1. An orderly procedure or process; regular manner of doing anything; hence, manner; way; mode; as, a method of teaching languages; a method of improving the mind. --Addison. 2. Orderly arrangement, elucidation, development, or classification; clear and lucid exhibition; systematic arrangement peculiar to an individual. Though this be madness, yet there's method in it. --Shak. All method is a rational progress, a progress toward an end. --Sir W. Hamilton. 3. (Nat. Hist.) Classification; a mode or system of classifying natural objects according to certain common characteristics; as, the method of Theophrastus; the method of Ray; the Linn[91]an method. Syn: Order; system; rule; regularity; way; manner; mode; course; process; means. Usage: {Method}, {Mode}, {Manner}. Method implies arrangement; mode, mere action or existence. Method is a way of reaching a given end by a series of acts which tend to sec[?]re it; mode relates to a single action, or to the form which a series of acts, viewed as a whole, exhibits. Manner is literally the handling of a thing, and has a wider sense, embracing both method and mode. An instructor may adopt a good method of teaching to write; the scholar may acquire a bad mode of holding his pen; the manner in which he is corrected will greatly affect his success or failure. | |
| From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]: | |
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method {object-oriented languages} to a procedure or routine associated with one or more {classes}. An {object} of a certain class knows how to perform actions, e.g. printing itself or creating a new instance of itself, rather than the function (e.g. printing) knowing how to handle different types of object. Different classes may define methods with the same name (i.e. methods may be {polymorphic}). The term "method" is used both for a named operation, e.g. "PRINT" and also for the code which a specific class provides to perform tha t operation. Most methods operate on objects that are instances of a certain class. Some object-oriented languages call these "object methods" to distinguish then from "{class methods}". In {Smalltalk}, a method is defined by giving its name, documentation, temporary local variables and a sequence of expressions separated by "."s. (2000-03-22) | |
