Methods vs Functions

While both methods and functions perform operations in Go, they serve different purposes and have distinct declaration patterns. Understanding this difference is crucial for writing clear, organized code.

A function is standalone and independent. It doesn't belong to any specific type:

func calculateArea(width, height float64) float64 {
    return width * height
}

A method is attached to a specific type through a receiver. It belongs to that type and can access its data:

func (r Rectangle) area() float64 {
    return r.Width * r.Height
}

The key difference lies in how you call them. Functions are called directly by name, while methods are called on instances of their associated type using dot notation. This association makes methods perfect for defining behaviors that naturally belong to your custom types, while functions work well for general-purpose operations that don't need to be tied to specific data structures.