Note: information on this page refers to Ceylon 1.0, not to the current release.

Functions and methods

A function accepts arguments and returns a value.

When a function is a member of a type is it called a method.

Usage

A trivial function declaration using a block looks like this:

void m() {
    /* method block: statements */
}

Alternatively it's possible to declare a function using fat arrow, =>, like this:

void m() => anotherMethod();

Description

Method receiver

Method invocations have a 'receiver', an instance of the type that declares the method. Within the method body, the expression this refers to this receiving instance.

A top level function does not have a receiver.

Return type

A function declaration always specifies the return type of the function, or the keyword void if the function has no specific return value.

The type system considers a void function identical to a function declared to return Anything. In particular, a void method may be refined by a subtype to return a more specific type. The value actually returned from an unrefined void function is always null.

Callable type

The callable type of a function expresses, in terms of the Callable interface, the function's return type and parameter types. For example, the callable type of:

String stringExample(Integer i, Boolean b) => "";

is String(Integer, Boolean), and the callable type of:

void voidExample() {}

is Anything().

Type parameters

A generic function declaration lists type parameters in angle brackets (< and >) after the function name.

void f<Z>(){
    /* method block: statements 
       type parameter Z treated as a type */
}

Of course, methods may be members of types which themselves have type parameters:

class C<Z>() {
    void m(Z z) {
    }
}

A function declaration with type parameters may have a given clause for each declared type parameter to constrain the argument types.

Parameter list

A function declaration must have one or more parameter lists.

Exceptions

Ceylon doesn't have checked exceptions, so it's never necessary to declare what exceptions a method can throw.

The throws annotation may be used to document thrown exceptions.

formal and default methods

A method declaration may be annotated formal or default. A formal or default method must also be annotated shared.

A formal method does not specify an implementation. A formal method must be refined by concrete classes which inherit the containing class or interface.

A default method may be refined by types which inherit the containing class or interface.

shared functions

A toplevel function declaration, or a function declaration nested inside the body of a containing class or interface, may be annotated shared.

  • A toplevel shared function is visible wherever the package that contains it is visible.
  • A shared function nested inside a class or interface is visible wherever the containing class or interface is visible.

Function blocks

The body of a function may be composed of statements in a brace-delimited block.

The body of a non-void function must definitely return a value. The following code will be rejected by the compiler:

String fun(Boolean bool) {
    if (bool) {
        return "hello";
    }
}

Function specifiers

A block with a return statement is unnecessarily verbose for a function that just evaluates an expression. In this case, we prefer to use the fat arrow (=>) syntax:

Integer zero() => 0
void callAnother() => anotherFunction();

Note that you can use this to partially apply a function (or any Callable):

function zeroTo(Integer n) => Range(0, n);

Type inference

Local function declarations often don't need to explictly declare a type, but can instead use type inference via the function keyword.

class C() {
    function f() => 0; //inferred type Integer
}

Metamodel

Function declarations can be manipulated at runtime via their representation as FunctionDeclaration instances. An applied function (i.e. with all type parameters specified) corresponds to either a Function or Method model instance.

See also