Since Java 8 released in 2014, dozens of new features have been added, including improvements in the JVM and functions to make the developer's life easier. Among these features are the Expression Lambda (EL) which was the starting point for the entry of Java into the world of functional programming, improvement in the data API and the no need to create implementations of existing Interfaces with the use of Default methods .
And the other news is the Streams API, the focus of this post. The Stream API is a new approach to working with Collections making the code cleaner and smarter.
The Stream API works with on-demand data processing and provides dozens of features to manipulate Collections, reducing code and simplifying development in a kind of pipeline that will be explained later.
To understand better, let's create a simple code of a list of objects and we'll create some conditions in order to extract a new list with the desired values. In this example we will not use Streams API.
Let's create a Class representing the City entity which will have the following attributes: name, state and population. And finally a method called listCities that loads a list of objects of type City.
Filtering
In the next code, we will iterate through a list, and within the iteration will check which cities have a population greater than 20 and then add them to a secondary list.
Until then, there are technically no problems with the above code. But it could be cleaner. Now, applying Stream API, here's a new example.
Notice the difference, we invoke the method listCities() and because it returns a Collection, it is possible to invoke the Stream method. From the call of the stream() method, the pipeline starts.
More examples of Filter
Example 1:
Output:
City: Hollywood /State: CA /Population: 30
City: Venice /State: CA /Population: 10
Example 2:
Output:
City: Venice /State: CA /Population: 10
How does a pipeline work?
Following the previous example, the pipeline is a sequential process that differentiates between intermediate and final operations. In the example, the Stream is invoked from a data source (list of objects of type City) that works on demand, the filter method is an intermediate operation, that is, it processes the data until the collect method is invoked, resulting in a final operation.
Books to study and read
If you want to learn more about and reach a high level of knowledge, I strongly recommend reading the following book(s):
Head First Design Patterns: Building Extensible and Maintainable Object-Oriented Software is a book that through Java examples shows you the patterns that matter, when to use them and why, how to apply them to your own designs, and the object-oriented design principles on which they're based.
Head First Java is a complete learning experience in Java and object-oriented programming. With this book, you'll learn the Java language with a unique method that goes beyond how-to manuals and helps you become a great programmer. Through puzzles, mysteries, and soul-searching interviews with famous Java objects, you'll quickly get up to speed on Java's fundamentals and advanced topics including lambdas, streams, generics, threading, networking, and the dreaded desktop GUI.
Well that’s it, I hope you enjoyed it!