Learning Java Lambdas

Key Features

• Take a deep dive into one of the single most important additions to modern Java
• Master Java lambdas, and fully understand functions, classes, and scope.
• Improve your programming skills, which will enable you to write cleaner and more dynamic code

Book Description

In this short book, we take an in-depth look at lambdas in Java, and their supporting features. The book covers essential topics, such as functional interfaces and type inference, and the key differences between lambdas and closures. You will learn about the background to functional programming and lambdas, before moving on to understanding the basic syntax of lambdas and what differentiates these anonymous functions from standard anonymous classes. Lastly, you'll learn how to invoke lambdas and look at the bytecode generated.

After reading this book, you'll understand lambdas in depth, their background, syntax, implementation details, and how and when to use them. You'll also have a clear knowledge of the difference between functions and classes, and why that's relevant to lambdas. This knowledge will enable you to appreciate the improvements to type inference that drive a lot of the new features in modern Java, and will increase your understanding of method references and scoping.

What you will learn

• What a lambda is and how it differs from other Java features
• How to use lambdas effectively in your own projects
• The use of method references and advanced scoping
• The difference between lambdas and closures
• The differences in bytecode produced when using lambdas

About the Author

Toby Weston specializes in modern software development; particularly, functional and object-oriented programming, agile and lean best practice. He wrote the book Essential Acceptance Testing, and he has written for magazines as well as does regularly blogging. He has been part of the software industry for more than fifteen years and loves what he does. He loves talking and writing about it and sharing his experiences online.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Lambdas Introduction
3. Lambdas in Depth
4. Bytecode