Ernest Duodu Ernest is a Java developer. Outside programming, he also enjoys a wide variety of hobbies which includes sky-diving, photography, exercising and listening to music.

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Java 8 Method References explained in 5 minutes

3 min read

At IDR Solutions we use Java 8 for the development of our products (a Java PDF Viewer and SDKPDF to HTML5 converter and a Java ImageIO replacement). As I spend a lot of time using Java 8 I thought that it might be useful to a series article of the new features in JDK8.

In this article, we will be looking at Method References.

What are Method References?

It is a feature that is related to Lambda Expression. It allows us to reference constructors or methods without executing them. Method references and Lambda are similar in that they both require a target type that consists of a compatible functional interface.

Types of Method Reference

There are four types of method reference, the table below summarizes this.

TypeExampleSyntax
1. Reference to a static methodContainingClass::staticMethodNameClass::staticMethodName
2. Reference to a constructorClassName::newClassName::new
3. Reference to an instance method of an arbitrary object of a particular typeContainingType::methodNameClass::instanceMethodName
4. Reference to an instance method of a particular objectcontainingObject::instanceMethodNameobject::instanceMethodName

I will explain further the four types of methods referenced in the table.

1 . Reference to a Static Method

public class ReferenceToStaticMethodExample {
     /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */    public static void main(String[] args) {
        List numbers = Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16);
        List primeNumbers = ReferenceToStaticMethodExample.findPrimeNumbers(numbers, 
                (number) -> ReferenceToStaticMethodExample.isPrime((int) number));
        
        System.out.println("Prime Numbers are " + primeNumbers);
    }
 
    public static boolean isPrime(int number) {
        if (number == 1) {
            return false;
        }
        for (int i = 2; i < number; i++) { if (number % i == 0) { return false; } } return true; } public static List findPrimeNumbers(List list, Predicate predicate) { List sortedNumbers = new ArrayList(); list.stream().filter((i) -> (predicate.test(i))).forEach((i) -> {
            sortedNumbers.add(i);
        });
        return sortedNumbers;
 
    }
}

As you can see in this code, we made reference to a static method in this class.

ContainingClass::staticMethodName

Containing class ReferenceToStaticMethod
staticMethodName isPrime

As I mentioned above, the Method reference is very similar to Lambda. Let’s look at the difference here

Lambda Form List primeNumbers = ReferenceToStaticMethod.testPredicate(numbers, a -> ReferenceToStaticMethod.isPrime(a));
Method Reference List primeNumbers = ReferenceToStaticMethod.testPredicate(numbers, ReferenceToStaticMethod::isPrime);

2. Reference To Constructor

public class ReferenceToConstructor {

    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO code application logic here
         List  numbers = Arrays.asList(4,9,16,25,36);
         List squaredNumbers = ReferenceToConstructor.findSquareRoot(numbers,Integer::new);
         System.out.println("Square root of numbers = "+squaredNumbers);
    }
    
    private static List findSquareRoot(List list, Function<Integer,Integer> f){
        List result = new ArrayList();
        list.forEach(x -> result.add(Math.sqrt(f.apply((Integer) x))));
        return result;
    }
}

This is very similar to a reference to a static method. The difference between the two is, the constructor reference method name is new.

ClassName::new

ClassName Integer
new new
Lambda Form List squaredNumbers = ReferenceToConstructor.findSquareRoot(numbers, x -> new Integer(x));
Method Reference List squaredNumbers= ReferenceToConstructor.findSquareRoot(numbers,Integer::new);

3. Reference To an Instance Method Of An Arbitrary Object Of A Particular Type

public class ReferenceToInstanceMethodAOPT {

    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */    
     private static class Person {
           
            private final String name;
            private final int age;
            
           
            public Person(String name, int age) {
                this.name = name;
                this.age = age;
                
            }
           
            public String getName() {
                return name;
            }
           
            public int getAge() {
                return age;
            }
           
           
        }
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO code application logic here
        List persons = new ArrayList();
            persons.add(new Person("Albert", 80));
            persons.add(new Person("Ben", 15));
            persons.add(new Person("Charlote", 20));
            persons.add(new Person("Dean", 6));
            persons.add(new Person("Elaine", 17));
            
         
            List allAges = ReferenceToInstanceMethodAOPT.listAllAges(persons, Person::getAge);
            System.out.println("Printing out all ages \n"+allAges);
    }
    
    
    private static List listAllAges(List person, Function<Person, Integer> f){
        List result = new ArrayList();
        person.forEach(x -> result.add(f.apply((Person)x)));
        return result;
    }
}

This mean providing reference to any of the persons object in the List of a particular type which is the Person.So the containing type is persons and the method name is getAge();

ContainingType::methodName

ContainingType Person
methodName getAge
Lambda Form List allAges = ReferenceToInstanceMethodAOPT.listAllAges(persons, x -> x.getAge());
Method Reference List allAges = ReferenceToInstanceMethodAOPT.listAllAges(persons, Person::getAge);

4. Reference To An Instance Method Of A Particular Object

public class ReferenceToInstanceMethodOAPO {

    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */    
     
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO code application logic here
        List names = new ArrayList();
            names.add("David");
            names.add("Richard");
            names.add("Samuel");
            names.add("Rose");
            names.add("John");
            
          
           ReferenceToInstanceMethodOAPO.printNames(names,System.out::println);
         
    }
    
    
    private static void printNames(List list, Consumer c ){
        list.forEach(x -> c.accept(x));
    }
}


Since System.out is an instance of type PrintStream, we then call theprintln method of the instance.

containingObject::instanceMethodName

containingObject System.out
instanceMethodName println
Lambda Form ReferenceToInstanceMethodOAPO.printNames(names, x -> System.out.println(x));
Method Reference ReferenceToInstanceMethodOAPO.printNames(names,System.out::println);

So what can we Take Away?

  1. You can use replace Lambda Expressions with Method References where Lamdba is invoking already defined methods.
  2. You can’t pass arguments to methods Reference
  3. To use Lambda and Method Reference, make sure you have Java 8 installed. They do not work on Java 7 and earlier versions.

If you found this article useful, you may also be interested in our other Java8 posts on Lambda Expression, Streams API, Default Methods, Consumer Suppliers, Optional and Repeating Annotations.

We also now have a large collection of articles on what is new in other versions of Java, including Java9, and Java12.



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Ernest Duodu Ernest is a Java developer. Outside programming, he also enjoys a wide variety of hobbies which includes sky-diving, photography, exercising and listening to music.

14 Replies to “Java 8 Method References explained in 5 minutes”

  1. For the first example 1 . Reference to a Static Method
    specifying Generic type like `List` would make IDE happier, and then stream usage maybe simplified

    public static List findPrimeNumbers(List list, Predicate predicate) {
    List sortedNumbers = new ArrayList();
    list.stream().filter(predicate).forEach( sortedNumbers::add );
    return sortedNumbers;
    }

    1. OK, the formated code is


      public static List findPrimeNumbers(List list, Predicate predicate) {
      List sortedNumbers = new ArrayList();
      list.stream().filter(predicate).forEach( sortedNumbers::add );
      return sortedNumbers;
      }

  2. Hi,
    I make some error when make the first example 1 . Reference to a Static Method
    Exception in thread “main” java.lang.Error: Unresolved compilation problems:
    The method findPrimeNumbers(List, Predicate) in the type ReferenceToStaticMethod is not applicable for the arguments (List, ReferenceToStaticMethod::isPrime)
    The type ReferenceToStaticMethod does not define isPrime(Object) that is applicable here

    at jv8.ReferenceToStaticMethod.main(ReferenceToStaticMethod.java:17)
    Please help me check it.
    Thank

  3. public class ReferenceToStaticMethodExample {
    /**
    * @param args
    * the command line arguments
    */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
    List numbers = Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
    11, 12, 13, 15, 16);
    List primeNumbers = ReferenceToStaticMethodExample
    .findPrimeNumbers(numbers,
    ReferenceToStaticMethodExample::isPrime);

    System.out.println(“Prime Numbers are ” + primeNumbers);
    }

    public static boolean isPrime(int number) {
    if (number == 1) {
    return false;
    }
    for (int i = 2; i < number; i++) {
    if (number % i == 0) {
    return false;
    }
    }
    return true;
    }

    public static List findPrimeNumbers(List list,
    Predicate predicate) {
    List sortedNumbers = new ArrayList();
    list.stream().filter(predicate).forEach(sortedNumbers::add);
    return sortedNumbers;

    }
    }

  4. Example 1 is not valid since amended to *Work but can’t use method reference because
    the list carry Object not int

  5. Working code for example 2

    private static List findSquareRoot(List list, Function f){
    List result = new ArrayList();
    list.forEach(x -> result.add(Math.sqrt(f.apply((Integer) x))));
    return result;
    }

  6. “Function f ” can u explain this in detail. Do we need to separate ‘Functionf’. what it tells.

    1. Hi Prasath,
      Function is a functional interface. It can be used as the assignment target for a lambda expression or method reference. E.g. in our second example it is used to create a new Integer object. I hope that helps.

  7. Hi in the 3rd example the function listAllAges has the following parameter Function f)
    is the integer=””- a typo ? if not can you explain what it means.
    thanks !

Comments are closed.