Lambda Expressions with Java 8
Before we discuss about the Lambda expressions, it is important to know what made Java introduce this to the world. Scala programming language has become very popular among Java developers since past few years. Scala design was aimed to address many challenges with Java language. Scala has many features and some of them are not present in Java like operator overloading, named parameters, optional parameters etc. Scala has very minimalistic syntax compared to Java. Scala helps you focus more on functional programming rather than juggling with lots of grammar.
Below is a good example to understand the difference by declaring a mathematical function.
// Java:
int mathFunction(intnum){
int numSquare=num*num;
return(int)(Math.cbrt(numSquare)+Math.log(numSquare));
}
// Scala: More idiomatic
// Uses type inference, omits `return` statement,
// uses `toInt` method, declares numSquare immutable
import math._
def mathFunction(num:Int)={
val numSquare=num*num(cbrt(numSquare)+log(numSquare)).toInt
}
Courtesy: Wiki
There are couple of main syntax differences in the above code snippets. Scala code does not need the semicolons at the end of each statement. Also return keyword is not required for returning the result from the function (What else you expect from a last line inside a method ).
Java made an attempt to simplify some of the syntaxes by introducing the Lambda Expression in Java 8 version. Also this is an attempt to move towards Functional Programming.
What is Lambda Expression?
General meaning of Lambda Expression is anonymous function. A function which can be defined without using any class, and called without using any identifier.
How to use Lambda Expression?
Lambda Expressions in Java 8 is used when you want to define and call the function declared in an interface. Lambda Expressions are most effective to use method of a Functional Interface (Interface with single method declared). There are many functional interfaces present in Java library itself and one of them is Runnable interface.
Below is the code snippet uses Runnable interface without Lambda Expression.
public class RunnableExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Thread myThread = newThread(new Runnable()
@Override
public void run() {
System.out.println(“Thread is running.”);
}
});
myThread.start();
}
}
And below code snippet achieves same result with Lambda Expression.
public class RunnableExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Runnable myThread = () -> {System.out.println(“Thread is running.”);};
myThread.run();
}
}
The difference is clear – instead of seven lines, it achieves result with only two line of codes (Though no compromise with semicolon). It removes a lot of boilerplate code and makes the code more readable. The message is clear – focus on what you want to achieve, don’t be boring. This makes sense, isn’t it?
So Java is still there, firmly holding its high grounds. Long live Java.
References and further readings:
http://www.codejava.net/java-core/the-java-language/java-8-lambda-runnable-example
http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/obe/java/Lambda-QuickStart/index.html
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By: Japan Trivedi
Japan Trivedi is adventurous explorer of world of programming since last seven years. Apart from .Net and PHP, he has interest in web technologies based in Java/J2EE. Spring Framework has always been fascinating for him to work on. Problem solving and team work are one of the best qualities of him.
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Lambda expressions address the bulkiness of anonymous inner classes by converting five lines of code into a single statement.
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It improves upon this approach with local and anonymous classes, and then finishes with an efficient and concise approach using lambda expressions.