difference between parameter and arguments

[Muhammad Usman]

i am having difficulty in understanding what is the difference between parameter and agruments.
also having difficulty to understand the reason for return type "void" in any method.
i hope u guys can help me

[Valentin Crettaz]

Parameter are placeholders for values and/or object references in the signature of a method. Arguments are the actual values and/or object references you give when invoking a method.
For instance:
public void aMethod(String s,int i);
in the signature of aMethod, the first parameter is a reference to an object of type String and i is a primitive integer value.
You invoke aMethod (someObject is an instance of the class containing aMethod as member method) like this:
someObject.aMethod("hello",1);
Here "hello" is the first String argument and 1 the second integer argument.
Concerning your second question, "void" is not a return type, it just indicates that nothing is returned by the method.
HIH
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Valentin Crettaz
Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform

[Colin Kenworthy]

The Java language says a method (but not constructors) has to define a return type in it's header when you code it. What do you do if your method does not return anything ? That is why the reserved word "void" is used - to say that this method does not return anything.

[Sadaf Zaidi]

The variable use to store value is called Parameter and the valus pass in the method is called Argument.
publis static anyMethod(int a,double d)
In this method the int a and double d is a parameter.
anyObjest.anyMethod(1,5.5)
Here we are calling anyMethod from anyObject and 1 and 5.5 are arguments (values) passing to a ad d.