What is the difference between a procedure and a block in Java?

Answer 1

It's rather confusing to try to describe the difference between these two. Let's look at an example of each.

A procedure in Java would be a method. It looks something like this:

void f(int n){

System.out.println(n);

}

A block in Java is any bit of code contained within curly braces {}

(Note that all methods must contain at least one block of code.)

// This is still a method.

void f(int n){ // This signifies the start of the method's main block of code

{// This is the start of another (inner) block of code

System.out.print(n);

System.out.println();

}// This closes the previous block

}// This closes the method's main block

The confusing part comes when trying to describe each one. All procedures (methods) in Java must be contained within a block of code - the class block. However, all procedures must also contain at least one block of executable code.

In conclusion: a block may be contained within a procedure and a procedure must be contained within a block.