Lambda Expressions are a significant feature introduced to enable functional programming in the language. Lambda expressions allow you to treat functions as first–class citizens, making it easier to express behavior as data, and to pass functions as arguments to methods, return them from methods, or assign them to variables. A Lambda Expression is a concise way to represent an anonymous function—a function without a name, often referred to as a “lambda.” It consists of parameters, an arrow ->, and a body.
Syntax of a Lambda Expression:
(parameters) -> { body }
Lambda expressions can be used wherever a functional interface is expected. A functional interface is an interface that contains only one abstract method, often referred to as a “single abstract method” (SAM) interface. These interfaces are also known as functional interfaces because they can be used with lambda expressions.
Lambda expressions greatly improve code readability and provide a more concise way to define simple functions or actions. They are widely used in combination with functional interfaces, making it easier to work with collections, streams, and other functional programming constructs introduced in Java 8 and beyond.
UserRegistration userRegistration = (user) -> {
// 1. run validations
if (user == null) {
throw new RuntimeException("User must not be null.");
}
if (user.getEmail() == null) {
throw new RuntimeException("Email must not be null.");
}
// 2. save user to db
user.setId(faker.number().randomNumber());
// 3. send welcome email
return user;
};
String firstName = faker.name().firstName();
String lastName = faker.name().lastName();
String email = (firstName + lastName).toLowerCase() + "@gmail.com";
User user = User.builder().firstName(firstName).lastName(lastName).email(email).phoneNumber(faker.phoneNumber().cellPhone()).build();
System.out.println("User: " + user.toString());
User signedUpUser = userRegistration.signUp(user);
System.out.println("Signed Up User: " + signedUpUser);