Learning Java Lambdas

Understand and utilize Java Lambdas

About This Book

• 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

Who This Book Is For

Learning Java Lambdas is for developers looking to upgrade their Java skills and familiarize themselves with one of the most important new features of Java. This book is not for absolute beginners and will be more suited to professionals who are already comfortable with Java coding. You should have a basic knowledge of Java before reading this book.

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

In Detail

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.

Style and approach

This book is a deep dive into one of the core new features of the Java language – Lambdas. It covers them in great details, making sure that you fully understand how lambdas work, and how they can be put to use in your own programs.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Lambdas Introduction
Chapter 3. Lambdas in Depth