So far we have talked a lot about functional programming. We discussed the basics and even experimented with some coding of functional interfaces. Now is the right time to touch one of the most popular features of Java for functional paradigm, known as lambda expressions or simply lambdas.

What Is a Lambda Expression?

A lambda expression provides functionality for one or more functional interface’s instances with “concrete implementations”. Lambdas do not require the use of a class for their use. Importantly, these expressions can be viewed and worked by coding them as objects. This means that, like objects, it is possible to pass or run a lambda expression. The basic style for writing a lambda expression requires the use of an “arrow”. See below:

parameter à the expression body

On the left side, we have a “parameter”. We can write single or multiple parameters for our program. Likewise, it is not mandatory to specify the parameter type because compilers already ascertain the parameter type. If you are using a single parameter, then you may or may not add a round bracket.

However, if you intend to add multiple parameters, then make sure to use round brackets (). Sometimes, there is no need of parameters in a lambda expression. For such cases, it is possible to signify them by simple adding an unfilled round bracket. To avoid error, use round brackets for parameter whether you are using a 0, 1, or more parameters.

On the right side of the lambda expression, we can have an expression. This expression is entailed in curly brackets. Like parameters, you do not require brackets for a single expression while multiple expressions require one. However, unlike parameter, the return type of a function can be signified by the body expression.

Without Lambdas

To understand lambdas, check this simple example.

package fp;

public class withoutLambdas {

public static void main(String[] args) {

withoutLambdas wl = new withoutLambdas(); // generating instance for our object

String lText2 = “Working without lambda expressions”; // here we assign a string for the object’s method as a parameter

wl.printing(lText2);

}

public void printing(String lText) { // initializing a string

System.out.println(lText);              // creating a method to print the String

}

}

 

The output of the program is “Working without lambda expressions”. Now if you are familiar with OOP, then you can understand how the caller was unaware of the method’s implementation i.e. it was hidden from it. What is happening here is that the caller gets a variable which is then used by the “printing” method. This means we are dealing with a side effect here—a concept we explained in our previous posts.

Now let’s see another program in which we go one step ahead, from a variable to a behavior.

package fp;

public class withoutLambdas2 {

interface printingInfo {

void letsPrint(String someText);  //a functional interface

}

public void printingInfo2(String lText, printingInfo pi) {

pi.letsPrint(lText);

 

}

 

public static void main(String[] args) {

withoutLambdas2 wl2 = new withoutLambdas2(); // initializing instance

String lText = “So this is what a lambda expression is”; // Setting a value for the variable

printingInfo pi = new printingInfo() {

@Override // annotation for overriding and introducing new behavior for our interface method

public void letsPrint(String someText) {

System.out.println(someText);

}

};

wl2.printingInfo2 (lText, pi);

}

 

 

}

In this example the actual work to print the text was completed by the interface. We basically formulated and designed the code for our interface’s implementation. Now let’s use Lambdas to see how they provide an advantage.

 

package fp;

public class firstLambda {

 

interface printingInfo {

void letsPrint(String someText);    //a functional interface

}

public void printingInfo2(String lText, printingInfo pi) {

pi.letsPrint(lText);

}

 

public static void main(String[] args) {

firstLambda fl = new firstLambda();

String lText = “This is what Lambda expressions are”;

printingInfo pi = (String letsPrint)->{System.out.println(letsPrint);};

fl.printingInfo2(lText, pi);

}

See how we improved the code by integrating a line of lambda expression. As a result, we are able to remove the side effect too. What the expression did was use the parameter and processed it to generate a response. The expression after the arrow is what we call as a “concrete implementation”.