I don't understand the difference between void methods and methods that return values

[icy flame]

So I'm doing mooc.fi and it's telling me that void methods don't return values and methods defined as variables do. Except I'm a little confused by this -- what does "return" mean in this context? What's the difference between:

  a = 3;
  }```
and
```public static int number() {
  return 3;
  }```
Also, why might someone choose one over the other?

[pure axle]

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