Java 8 method reference

Method references point to a method by its name.
Method references can make the language structure compact and concise, reducing redundant code.
The method reference uses a pair of colons :: .
Below, we define 4 methods in the Car class as examples to distinguish the references of 4 different methods in Java.
package com.runoob.main;
@FunctionalInterface public interface Supplier<T> { T get(); } class Car { //Supplier jdk1.8 interface is used here together and lamd public static Car create(final Supplier<Car> supplier) { return supplier.get(); } public static void collide(final Car car) { System.out.println("Collided " + car.toString()); } public void follow(final Car another) { System.out.println("Following the " + another.toString()); } public void repair() { System.out.println("Repaired " + this.toString()); } }
  • Constructor reference: Its syntax is Class::new, or more general Class<T>::new instances are as follows:
    final Car car = Car.create( Car::new ); final List< Car > cars = Arrays.asList( car );
  • Static method reference: Its syntax is Class::static_method, an instance is as follows:
    cars.forEach( Car::collide );
  • A method reference to an arbitrary object of a particular class: Its syntax is an instance of Class::method as follows:
    cars.forEach( Car::repair );
  • Method reference for a specific object: Its syntax is instance::method instance is as follows:
    final Car police = Car.create( Car::new ); cars.forEach( police::follow );

Method reference instance

Enter the following code in the Java8Tester.java file:

Java8Tester.java file

import java.util.List; import java.util.ArrayList; public class Java8Tester { public static void main(String args[]){ List names = new ArrayList(); names.add("Google"); names.add("Facebook"); names.add("Taobao"); names.add("Baidu"); names.add("Sina"); names.forEach(System.out::println); } }
In the example we reference the System.out::println method as a static method.
Execute the above script, the output is:
$ javac Java8Tester.java 
$ java Java8Tester
Google
Facebook
Taobao
Baidu
Sina

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