Lambda Expressions in Java 8

Let's start with lambda expressions. What are they? And how do they work?

I Googled lots of posts and YouTube videos before now to understand lambda expressions, but I found it difficult to understand because I haven't used any functional language before. So I decided to write a blog post to help people like me.

Don't worry about the name. It's the same old Java programming with a bit of a different flavor. It just reduces the words required to write a function or call a function or write an anonymous class.

Take a look at some lambda expression syntax:

Syntax:

1. (int a, int b) -> {  return a + b; }  

     1. Function with two parameters.

     2. (a,b) -> {  return a + b; } works the same.

2. () -> System.out.println("Hello World");  

     1. Function without parameter.                      

3. (String s) -> { System.out.println(s); }  

     1. Function with one parameter.

4. (s)->System.out.println(s);  

     1. No need to specify the type of parameter.

     2. No need for curly braces for single statements.

5. () -> 42  

6. () -> { return 3.1415 };  

I am sure some programmers will try to write a "hello world" program using lambda expression syntax after checking out the syntax, like so:

class Test()
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        ()->System.out.println(“Hello world”);
    }
}

I don't know about you guys, but I did it. And found this: "we can use lambda expressions only with Functional interfaces."

Q.  Now what is a functional interface and why is it important for lambda expressions?

Functional interface: A functional interface is an interface with a single abstract method.

Example:

public interface FunctionalInterface
{
    public void show();
} 

As you can see the above interface has only one method, so it is a functional interface.

Now try to write the program “hello world”.

Here is an old method before lambda expressions:

public class TestFunInter {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        FunctionalInterface f = new FunctionalInterface() {
            public void show() {
                System.out.println("hello world");
            }
        };
        f.show();
    }
}

Output:
hello world

And

public class TestFunInter
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        new FunctionalInterface() {
            @Override
            public void show()
            {
                System.out.println("hello world");
            }
        }.show();
    }
}

Output:
hello world

Now check it out in the lambda way:

public class TestFunInter {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        FunctionalInterface f=()->System.out.println("hello world");
        f.show();
    }
}

Output:
hello world

Now compare all the ways of writing same code—you can get the proper idea of what the lambda is doing for you. Now some of you have started imagining and might by now be asking a question like “Why does it need a functional interface to work?".

This means whenever we want to do anything using lambda expressions we need to create a functional interface first.

API developers have already provided many Functional interfaces needed for general use. And these interfaces are located in the package java.util.function. You can check out this link for further details.

Let's check out the java.util.function package.

Example:

import java.util.function.*;

public class Test{
    public static void main(String[] args){
        BiConsumer<String, String> bi = (a, b) -> System.out.println(a + b);
        bi.accept("shiv ", "----------");
    }
}

Output:
-shiv----------

You can see in above example:

1. import -> we have imported function package.

2. In the main method we have created a reference variable of type interface with two generic types.

3. This interface has one abstract method which accepts two parameters. and returns nothing. You can check details here.

Lambda Expression With Threads

Note: We all know that a “Runnable” interface has only one method “run()”. So it is also a “Functional interface” and can be used with a lambda expression.

Example 1: Use of thread type 1:

public class TestClass {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Runnable r = new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                System.out.println("I am runnable thread");
            }
        };
        Thread t = new Thread(r);
        t.start();
    }
}

Let's do the same using a lambda expression:

public class TestClass {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        Runnable r = () -> System.out.println("lambda expression");
        Thread t = new Thread(r);
        t.start();
    }
}

Example 2: Use of thread type 2:

public class TestClass {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        new Thread(new Runnable(){
            public void run(){
                System.out.println("thread");
            }
        }).start();
    }
}

The same with lambda expressions:

public class TestClass {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        new Thread(()->System.out.println("lambda thread")).start();
    }
}

Just compare the standard and lambda ways, and you can find the things lambda made easier.

What lambda expression can do for us is:

1. Can define anonymous functions

2. Can be assigned to a variable

3. Can be passed to functions

4. Can be returned from functions