Chapter 6 Lambdas and Functional Interfaces

Question 1

Lambdas and Functional Interfaces

Question 2

In Java 8, the language added the ability to write code using another style.
Functional programming is a way of writing code more declaratively.
You specify what you want to do rather than dealing with the state of objects.
You focus more on expressions than loops.
Functional programming uses lambda expressions to write code.

Question 3

A lambda expression is a block of code that gets passed around.

You can think of a lambda expression as an unnamed method.
It has parameters and a body just like full-fledged methods do, but it doesn’t have a name like a real method.

Lambda expressions are often referred to as lambdas for short.

You might also know them as closures if Java isn’t your first language. If you had a bad experience with closures in the past, don’t worry. They are far simpler in Java.

Question 4

Deferred execution means that code is specified now but will run later.

Question 5

Lambdas work with interfaces that have only one abstract method.

Question 6

Java relies on context when figuring out what lambda expressions mean.

Question 7

The syntax of lambdas is tricky because many parts are optional.

These two lines do the exact same thing:
~~~
a -> a.canHop()

(Animal a) -> { return a.canHop(); }
~~~

Question 8

Lambda syntax omitting optional parts
* A single parameter specified with the name a
* The arrow operator to separate the parameter and body
* A body that calls a single method and returns the result of that method

a -> a.canHop()

Question 9

example shows the most verbose form of a lambda that returns a boolean:
* A single parameter specified with the name a and stating the type is Animal
* The arrow operator to separate the parameter and body
* A body that has one or more lines of code, including a semicolon and a return statement

(Animal a) -> { return a.canHop(); }

Question 10

The parentheses can be omitted only if there is a single parameter and its type is not explicitly stated.

What is different here is that the rules change when you omit the braces.
Java doesn’t require you to type return or use a semicolon when no braces are used.

This special shortcut doesn’t work when we have two or more statements. At least this is consistent with using {} to create blocks of code elsewhere.

Question 11

Here’s a fun fact: s -> {} is a valid lambda.
If there is no code on the right side of the expression, you don’t need the semicolon or return statement.

Question 12

Valid Lambdas
~~~
() -> true // 0 parameter
a -> a.startsWith(“test”) //1 parameter, one parameter and doesn’t specify the type.
(String a) -> a.startsWith(“test”) //1 parameter
(a, b) -> a.startsWith(“test”) //2 parameters
((String a, String b) ->
a.startsWith(“test”)a, b) -> a.startsWith(“test”) //2 parameters
~~~

Question 13

Invalid lambda
~~~
a, b -> a.startsWith(“test”) //Missing parentheses
a -> { a.startsWith(“test”); } //Missing return
a -> { return a.startsWith(“test”)
} //Missing semicolon
~~~

Question 14

Functional Interfaces

Answer 14

Lambdas work with interfaces that have only one abstract method. These are called functional interfaces.

functional interface has only one abstract method.
Your friend Sam can help you remember this because it is officially known as a Single Abstract Method (SAM) rule.

Question 15

Single Abstract Method (SAM) rule.

Question 16

Java provides an annotation @FunctionalInterface on some, but not all, functional interfaces. This annotation means the authors of the interface promise it will be safe to use in a lambda in the future. However, just because you don’t see the annotation doesn’t mean it’s not a functional interface. Remember that having exactly one abstract method is what makes it a functional interface, not the annotation.

There are four functional interfaces you are likely to see on the exam. The next sections take a look at Predicate, Consumer, Supplier, and Comparator.

Question 17

PREDICATE

Answer 17

It’s in the package java.util.function and the gist
of it is as follows:

public interface Predicate<T> {
boolean test(T t);
}

Question 18

CONSUMER

Answer 18

The Consumer functional interface has one method you need to know:
void accept(T t)

Question 19

SUPPLIER

Answer 19

The Supplier functional interface has only one method:
T get()

A good use case for a Supplier is when generating values.

Question 20

COMPARATOR

Answer 20

The Comparator rules.
A negative number means the first value is smaller,
zero means they are equal,
and a positive number means the first value is bigger.

The method signature is as follows:
int compare(T o1, T o2)

This interface is a functional interface since it has only one unimplemented method.
It has many static and default methods to facilitate writing complex comparators.

Question 21

The Comparator interface existed prior to lambdas being added to Java.
As a result, it is in a different package. You can find Comparator in java.util.

Question 22

Can you figure out whether this sorts in ascending or descending order?

Comparator<Integer> ints = (i1, i2) -> i1 - i2;

Answer 22

The ints comparator uses natural sort order.

If the first number is bigger, it will return a positive number.

Try it. Suppose we are comparing 5 and 3.

The comparator subtracts 5-3 and gets 2. This is a positive number that means the first number is bigger and we are sorting in ascending order.

Question 23

Do you think these two statements would sort in ascending or descending order?

Comparator<String> strings = (s1, s2) -> s2.compareTo(s1);
Comparator<String> moreStrings = (s1, s2) -> - s1.compareTo(s2);

Answer 23

Both of these comparators actually do the same thing: sort in descending order. In the first example, the call to compareTo() is “backwards,” making it descending.

In the second example, the call uses the default order; however, it applies a negative sign to the result, which reverses it.

Question 24

Basic functional interfaces

Answer 24

• Comparator, 2 parameters, return int
• Consumer, 1 parameter, not return (void)
• Predicate, 1 parameter, return boolean
• Supplier, no parameter, type varies return

Question 25

Working with Variables in Lambdas

Answer 25

Variables can appear in three places with respect to lambdas:
the parameter list,
local variables declared inside the lambda body,
and variables referenced from the lambda body.

Question 26

Variables in Lambdas
PARAMETER LIST

Answer 26

Predicate<String> p = x -> true;
Predicate<String> p = (var x) -> true;
Predicate<String> p = (String x) -> true;

Question 27

identify the type of the lambda parameter.
~~~
Predicate<String> p = x -> true;
Predicate<String> p = (var x) -> true;
Predicate<String> p = (String x) -> true;
~~~</String></String></String>

Answer 27

the answer is String.

How did we figure that out?
A lambda infers the types from the surrounding context. That means you get to do the same.

In this case, the lambda is being assigned to a Predicate that takes a String.

Another place to look for the type is in a method signature.

Question 28

Can you figure out the type of x?
~~~
public void whatAmI() {
consume((var x) -> System.out.print(x), 123);
}
public void consume(Consumer<Integer> c, int num) {
c.accept(num);
}
~~~</Integer>

Answer 28

Integer

The whatAmI() method creates a lambda to be passed to the consume() method. Since the consume() method expects an Integer as the generic, we know that is what the
inferred type of x will be.

Question 29

LOCAL VARIABLES INSIDE THE LAMBDA BODY

Answer 29

While it is most common for a lambda body to be a single expression, it is legal to define a block. That block can have anything that is valid in a normal Java block, including local variable declarations. The following code does just that. It creates a local variable named c that is scoped to the lambda block.

(a, b) -> { int c = 0; return 5;}

Question 30

What do you think the type of x is here?
~~~
public void counts(List<Integer> list) {
list.sort((var x, var y) -> x.compareTo(y));
}
~~~</Integer>

Answer 30

Integer

Since we are sorting a list, we can use the type of the list to determine the type of the lambda parameter.

Question 31

When writing your own code, a lambda block with a local variable is a good hint that you should extract that code into a method.
Now let’s try another one. Do you see what’s wrong here?

(a, b) -> { int a = 0; return 5;} // DOES NOT COMPILE

Answer 31

We tried to redeclare a, which is not allowed. Java doesn’t let you create a local variable with the same name as one already declared in that scope.

Question 32

How many syntax errors do you see in this method?

11: public void variables(int a) {
12:     int b = 1;
13:     Predicate<Integer> p1 = a -> {
14:         int b = 0;
15:         int c = 0;
16:         return b == c;}
17: }

Answer 32

There are three syntax errors.

The first is on line 13. The variable a was already used in this scope as a method parameter, so it cannot be reused.

The next syntax error comes on line 14 where the code attempts to redeclare local variable b.

The third syntax error is quite subtle and on line 16. See it? Look really closely.
The variable p1 is missing a semicolon at the end. There is a semicolon before the }, but that is inside the block. While you don’t normally have to look for missing semicolons, lambdas are tricky in this space, so beware!

Question 33

VARIABLES REFERENCED FROM THE LAMBDA BODY

Answer 33

Lambda bodies are allowed to reference some variables from the surrounding code. The following code is legal:

public class Crow {
    private String color;
    public void caw(String name) {
    String volume = "loudly";
    Consumer<String> consumer = s -> System.out.println(name + " says "
\+ volume + " that she is " + color);
    }
}

Question 34

2: public class Crow {
3:     private String color;
4:     public void caw(String name) {
5:         String volume = "loudly";
6:         name = "Caty";
7:         color = "black";
8:
9:     Consumer<String> consumer = s ->
10:     System.out.println(name + " says "
11:     + volume + " that she is " + color);
12:     volume = "softly";
13: }

Answer 34

In this example, name is not effectively final because it is set on line 6.

However, the compiler error occurs on line 10. It’s not a problem to assign a value to a nonfinal variable. However, once the lambda tries to use it, we do have a problem. The variable is no longer effectively final, so the lambda is not allowed to use the variable.

The variable volume is not effectively final either since it is updated on line 12. In this case, the compiler error is on line 11. That’s before the assignment! Again, the act of assigning a value is only a problem from the point of view of the lambda. Therefore, the lambda has to be the one to generate the compiler error.

Question 35

Rules for accessing a variable from a lambda body inside a method

Answer 35

• Instance variable. Allowed
• Static variable Allowed
• Local variable Allowed if effectively final
• Method parameter Allowed if effectively final
• Lambda parameter Allowed

Question 36

Calling APIs with Lambdas

Question 37

REMOVEIF()

Answer 37

List and Set declare a removeIf() method that takes a Predicate.

remove all of the bunny names that don’t begin with the letter h :
~~~
3: List<String> bunnies = new ArrayList<>();
4: bunnies.add("long ear");
5: bunnies.add("floppy");
6: bunnies.add("hoppy");
7: System.out.println(bunnies); // [long ear, floppy, hoppy]
8: bunnies.removeIf(s -> s.charAt(0) != 'h');
9: System.out.println(bunnies); // [hoppy]
~~~</String>

Line 8 takes care of everything for us. It defines a predicate that takes a String and returns a boolean. The removeIf() method does the rest.
The removeIf() method works the same way on a Set. It removes any values in the set that match the Predicate. There isn’t a removeIf() method on a Map. Remember that maps have both keys and values. It wouldn’t be clear what one was removing!

Question 38

SORT()

Answer 38

While you can call Collections.sort(list), you can now sort directly on the list object.
~~~
3: List<String> bunnies = new ArrayList<>();
4: bunnies.add("long ear");
5: bunnies.add("floppy");
6: bunnies.add("hoppy");
7: System.out.println(bunnies); // [long ear, floppy, hoppy]
8: bunnies.sort((b1, b2) -> b1.compareTo(b2));
9: System.out.println(bunnies); // [floppy, hoppy, long ear]
~~~
On line 8, we sort the list alphabetically. The sort() method takes Comparator that provides the sort order. Remember that Comparator takes two parameters and returns an int. If you need a review of what the return value of a compare() operation means, check the Comparator section in this chapter or the Comparing section in Chapter 5. This is really important to memorize!
There is not a sort method on Set or Map. Neither of those types has indexing, so it wouldn’t make sense to sort them.</String>

Question 39

FOREACH()

Answer 39

Our final method is forEach(). It takes a Consumer and calls that lambda for each element encountered.
~~~
3: List<String> bunnies = new ArrayList<>();
4: bunnies.add("long ear");
5: bunnies.add("floppy");
6: bunnies.add("hoppy");
7:
8: bunnies.forEach(b -> System.out.println(b));
9: System.out.println(bunnies);
~~~
This code prints the following:
long ear
floppy
hoppy
[long ear, floppy, hoppy]</String>

The method on line 8 prints one entry per line. The method on line 9 prints the entire list on one line.

We can use forEach() with a Set or Map. For a Set, it works the same way as a List.
~~~
Set<String> bunnies = Set.of("long ear", "floppy", "hoppy");
bunnies.forEach(b -> System.out.println(b));
~~~
For a Map, you have to choose whether you want to go through the keys or values:
~~~
Map<String, Integer> bunnies = new HashMap<>();
bunnies.put("long ear", 3);
bunnies.put("floppy", 8);
bunnies.put("hoppy", 1);
bunnies.keySet().forEach(b -> System.out.println(b));
bunnies.values().forEach(b -> System.out.println(b));
~~~
It turns out the keySet() and values() methods each return a Set.
Since we know how to use forEach() with a Set, this is easy!</String>

Question 40

USING FOREACH() WITH A MAP DIRECTLY

Answer 40

You don’t need to know this for the exam, but Java has a functional interface called BiConsumer. It works just like Consumer except it can take two parameters. This functional interface allows you to use forEach() with key/value pairs from Map.
~~~
Map<String, Integer> bunnies = new HashMap<>();
bunnies.put(“long ear”, 3);
bunnies.put(“floppy”, 8);
bunnies.put(“hoppy”, 1);
bunnies.forEach((k, v) -> System.out.println(k + “ “ + v));
~~~