Kuidas eristada terminalmeetodeid vahemeetoditest programmeerimises?

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

For example, in Java Stream API:

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

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