(Coursenotes for CSC 203 Project-based Object-oriented Programming and Design)

Lambdas and functional interfaces

In the previous lesson, we learned about expressing Comparators more concisely using the lambda syntax. This is possible because Comparator is a functional interface.

A functional interface is an interface in Java with exactly one abstract method.

Because Comparator only has one abstract method (compare), we can concisely initialise Comparators like so:

Comparator<Album> comp = (a1, a2) -> a1.getTitle.compareTo(a2.getTitle());

The lambda above defines a function, and because there is only one abstract method in Comparator, there is no ambiguity about what that function is. It’s the compare function! This means the compiler is able to infer things like the parameter types of a1 and a2, and check that the function returns an int as is required by the compare function.

There are a whole bunch of other lambdas available in Java — too many to describe here! So in this lesson, we’ll focus our discussion on three useful types of lambdas available in Java:

All of the above are functional interfaces, meaning they are all interfaces that contain exactly one abstract method each. The three functional interfaces above are rather more generally useful than the Comparator interface. While the Comparator interface defines a function for a very specific purpose (taking in two objects and returning an int based on their comparison), the lambdas above can be used in a wide variety of problems.

Let’s talk about them.

Function

A Function is exactly what you think it is: it’s a procedure that takes in some input value and produces some output.

When you use a Function, you must also declare its input and output types. Here are several examples of Functions written as lambdas:

A function that takes in a number and returns its square:

This function is expected to take in an integer as its input and return an integer as output. Therefore, we declare the function using Function<Integer, Integer>.

Function<Integer, Integer> square = num -> num * num;

Because the function above takes a single parameter, we can omit the parentheses around the parameter num. We also don’t need to specify the type of num, because we’ve already declared that the function is a Function<Integer, Integer>, i.e., its input type is an Integer and its output type is Integer.

A function that takes in a String and returns its length:

This function is expected to take in a string and return an integer. So we declare it using Function<String, Integer>.

Function<String, Integer> stringLength = s -> s.length();

The above function is using a lambda only to call an existing method on the input. This is the exact use case for using method references. How would you re-write the above function using a method reference? Try to answer this yourself before expanding the answer below.

Click to see answer 
Function<String, Integer> stringLength = String::length;

A function that takes in an Album and returns a String describing it: (e.g., "Rubber Soul by The Beatles")

Function<Album, String> stringDesc = a -> a.getTitle() + " by " + a.getArtist();

The Function interface has one abstract method: the apply method. The method takes in one parameter and returns one value. The types for the parameter and the returned value are decided when the Function is first created, as you can see in the examples above. This apply method is what you are defining when you write a lambda.

A motivating example

A common task in programming problems is to apply some operation to all the items in a list, and produce a list of results. This is commonly referred to as a map operation, i.e., you are mapping some input value to some output value. You will be surprised at how often this pattern appears in your programs.

In a map operation:

For example, suppose you are a teacher and your students have just taken an exam.

Suppose you realise that the class as a whole performed poorly on a particular question that was not clearly worded. As a result, you need to add 2 points to everyone’s exam scores.

First, let’s acknowledge that you could easily write this using a for loop.

public static List<Integer> mapToAdjustedScores(List<Integer> examScores) {
  List<Integer> result = new ArrayList<>();
  
  for (int current : examScores) {
    int adjusted = current + 2; // This is the "map" operation
    result.add(percent);
  }

  return result;
}

As another example, the maximum possible score is 44 points, so your students have scores like 42, 44, 40, 39, etc. You would like to turn all of these scores into percentages, i.e., by dividing each of them by 44 and multiplying by 100.

Again, easily doable using a for loop.

public static List<Double> mapToPercentages(List<Integer> examScores) {
  List<Double> result = new ArrayList<>();
  
  for (int current : examScores) {
    double percent = ((double) current / 44) * 100; // This is the "map" operation
    result.add(percent);
  }

  return result;
}

What do you notice about the two functions above?

Observe that the two functions are nearly identical, except for one thing: they differ in the operation performed on each list item within the for loop (and consequently, the data type of the resulting lists). This is because both functions are versions of the map pattern in action. Can we abstract out the common parts so that only the differing parts (the insides of the for loops) need to be specified each time?

In other words, can we parameterise the map operation so that the nearly-identical functions don’t need to be written multiple times?

Parameterising our mapper

Instead of the two functions above, consider the following generalised map function. We can take in a function as a parameter to this function, allowing this map function to be more generally useful.

There is some new notation in this code, which I will explain below. Please take some time to read the code and its accompanying comments.

// T and R are declared as "type parameters"
public static <T, R> List<R> map(List<T> inputList, Function<T, R> func) {
  // The type of this list should match the output type of the Function parameter
  List<R> outputList = new ArrayList<>();

  // The type in this for loop should match the type of the input list
  for (T current : list) {

    // Recall that "apply" is the name of the abstract method in the Function interface.
    // We call "func" on the current item and save the result in a variable.
    R result = func.apply(current);

    // Store the result in the output list.
    outputList.add(result);
  }

  return outputList;
}

Some key things to note about the code above:

Usage examples

We can now use our map function to accomplish both tasks above, by only writing the code that does the mapping, and not having to re-write the rest of the function each time. We can express those operations as lambdas, given as parameters to our map function.

List<Integer> scores = List.of(42, 39, 43, 44, 40, 37, 35);

// Bump all scores by 2 using our map function
List<Integer> bumpedScores = map(scores, s -> s + 2);

When we call map in the code above, the type parameters T and R are now resolved to actual types. T is now Integer, because the input list is a list of integers, and R is also Integer in this case, because our lambda’s return type is integer.

We can also turn all scores into percentages.

// Turn scores into percentages
List<Double> percentages = map(scores, s -> ((double) s / 44) * 100);

In the call above, T is Integer, and R is Double.

The map pattern is an extremely common programming pattern. Virtually every mainstream programming language provides map as an operation that can be performed on collections of objects, and Java is no exception. We will see how to use this in the next lesson on Streams.

For now, let’s continue talking about different types of lambdas available in Java, and move on to the Predicate.

Predicate

A Predicate is a function that returns a Boolean value. Unlike a Function, you only need to specify an input type for a Predicate, because the output type is always Boolean.

Here are several examples of Predicates written as lambdas.

A predicate that takes in an integer and check if it is even.

Predicate<Integer> isEven = num -> num % 2 == 0;

A predicate that takes in an Album and checks if it was released in this millenium.

Predicate<Album> inThisMillenium = album -> album.getYear() > 2000;

Both of the above can also be declared as Functions, i.e., as Function<Integer, Boolean> and Function<Album, Boolean>. The Predicate exists as a useful abstraction because creating boolean functions is a common use case in programming, as we will see. Predicates are, in essence, a way to parameterise boolean conditions.

The Predicate interface has one abstract method: the test method. The test method takes in one input and returns a boolean. That test method is what you are implementing when you express a Predicate as a lambda.

A motivating example

Another common task in programming problems is to filter a collection of items based on some condition. Like map, filter is an extremely common sub-step in solving programming problems.

In a filter operation:

For example, continuing with the teacher example above, let’s say you want to find out which students scored below a 70% on the exam (i.e., scores that are less than 31). The first thing you need to do is filter out the scores that are greater than 31.

We could do this easily using a for loop.

public static List<Integer> filterLessThan70(List<Integer> scores) {
  List<Integer> result = new ArrayList<>();

  for (int current : scores) {
    if (current < (0.7 * 44)) { // This is the filter condition 
      result.add(current);
    }
  }

  return result;
}

Parameterising our filter

Like we did with the map function we can make our filter more generally usable by parameterising the condition on which the list is filtered.

Consider the code below. We have re-written our filter function to only include the common elements of a typical filter operation, and parameterised things that might change from one instance to another. For example, we have parameterised the data type of the input and output lists, and we have parameterised the predicate used to test whether a given item should be kept or filtered out.

// T is declared as a "type parameter". We don't need to declare an output
// type because it is the same as the input type.
public static <T> List<T> filter(List<T> inputList, Predicate<T> pred) {
  List<T> outputList = new ArrayList<>();

  for (T current : inputList) {
    if (pred.test(current)) { // Use predicate to check the condition
      // If the predicate passes, save the current item
      outputList.add(current);
    }
  }

  return outputList;
}

In the code above, we use the Predicate’s test method to invoke the boolean function. If the test passes (i.e., it returns true), we save that list item to be returned in the output list.

Usage examples

We can use our filter function to accomplish filter tasks like the example above.

List<Integer> scores = List.of(42, 39, 43, 44, 40, 37, 35);

// Filter down to scores less than 70% of 44
List<Integer> lessThan70Percent = filter(scores, s -> s < (0.7 * 44));

// Filter down to "A" scores (e.g., greater than 90%)
List<Integer> aScores = filter(scores, s -> s > (0.9 * 44));

The filter pattern is also an extremely common programming pattern, available “ready to use” on collections of data in most programming languages.

Consumer

Finally, we will talk about the Consumer. The Consumer is a functional interface used to define operations that have no outputs.

It defines one abstract method: accept. The method takes in one input and returns nothing, i.e., its return type is void.

Here are several examples of consumers:

A consumer that takes in an album and cuts their prices by 10% (heck yeah, sale!).

Consumer<Album> discount = album -> album.setPrice(album.getPrice() * 0.9);

A consumer that takes in a Student and increases the number of units they have completed by 12.

Consumer<Student> increaseUnits = student -> student.setUnits(student.getUnits() + 12);

A motivating example

Just like map and filter are patterns for performing different types of operations on lists of data, a third pattern is also extremely common in programming. And you’re already familiar with this!

Consider the for-each loop — it loops over a collection of data, and performs some operation on each item in the list.

We could also write a forEach function that accomplishes this.

public static <T> void forEach(List<T> inputList, Consumer<T> consumer) {
  for (T current : inputList) {
    consumer.accept(current);
  }
}

We now have a function version of the for-each loop!

Other functional interfaces

The java.util.function package lists a number of functional interfaces, of which we have learned about 3 so far.

A key limiting factor in the Function, Predicate, and Consumer is that all of those lambdas can only take a single input. We often need to write functions (or lambdas) that operate on multiple parameters.

The Comparator interface comes to mind — its compare function takes in two objects, the two objects being compared.

Among the other functions available in java.util.function are:

In many ways, the exact names of all the functional interfaces isn’t what’s most important. In the next lesson, we will learn about streams, which allow us to express a series of operations to be performed on lists of data by chaining together calls to functions like map, filter, and forEach. In these cases, lambdas are written inline as arguments to those functions themselves, and you rarely have to declare that a lambda is a Function, BiFunction, Predicate, etc.

For example, if you had a list of exam scores, and you wanted to:

You could do all of that in a for loop, or you could use lambdas and streams. Here’s a sneak peak:

List<Integer> scores = List.of(42, 39, 43, 44, 40, 37, 35);

List<Double> scoresUpdated = scores.stream()
                                   .map(s -> ((double) s / 44) * 100) // percentages
                                   .map(s -> s + 5) // bump up
                                   .map(Math::round) // round the scores.
                                   .filter(s -> s >= 90) // filter to "A" scores
                                   .toList(); // get the final result list back

  1. This is an example of using Java generics. Generics allow you to declare type parameters, i.e, you can use placeholder names for data types, with the understanding that the placeholder will be replaced with an actual type when the code is invoked. This is identical to how you use “normal” parameters for methods and functions: you declare a variable name in the method signature, and when you call the function, that’s when the variable actually gets a value. ↩