How to distinguish terminal methods from intermediate ones in programming?

In programming, terminal methods are methods that end a chain of calls and return a specific result, such as a collection, a number, or output to the screen. Intermediate methods are methods that return a modified stream of data or collection, allowing the chain of calls to continue.

For example, in Java Stream API:

• Intermediate methods: filter(), map(), sorted() — they return a new Stream and do not perform computations immediately.
• Terminal methods: collect(), forEach(), count() — they initiate processing and return a result.

Thus, terminal methods end the chain and provide a final result, while intermediate methods transform data and enable building call chains.