Java 8 — Method Reference | Code Factory

Code Factory
2 min readMay 8, 2020

Index Page : Link

Reference Link : Link

Donate : Link

Method Reference by Double Colon (::) Operator :

Method Calling by Lambda Reference :

package com.codeFactory.methodAndConstructorReference;interface Interf {
public void m1();
}
public class Test {
public static void main(String... args) {
Interf i = () -> System.out.println("Lambda Expression");
i.m1();
}
}

Output :

Lambda Expression

Method Calling by :: Operator :

package com.codeFactory.methodAndConstructorReference;interface Interf {
public void m1();
}
public class Test {
public static void main(String... args) {
Interf i = Test::m2;
i.m1();
}

public static void m2() {
System.out.println("Method Reference");
}
}

Output :

Method Reference
  • Advantage of Method Reference is code reusability.
  • Referer and Refering method both should have same argument type, return type can be different, modifier can be different and that method can be static or non-static.
  • Method reference is alternative syntax to Lambda Expression.
  • Function Interface can refer Lambda Expression, Functional Interface can refer method reference.

Syntax for Method Reference :

- Static method :
- classname :: method name
- e.g. Test::m2
- Instance method :
- object ref :: method name
- e.g. Test t = new Test(); ------> t::m2;

How many ways we can define a thread :

1. By extend thread class
2. By implementing runnable (3 ways)
2.1 Runnable r = new MyRunnable()
2.2 Runnable r = Lambda Expression
2.3 Runnable r = Method Reference

Thred using Lambda Expression :

package com.codeFactory.methodAndConstructorReference;public class Test {
public static void main(String... args) {
Runnable r = () -> {
for(int i=0; i<5; i++) {
System.out.println("Child Thread");
}
};

Thread t = new Thread(r);
t.start();
for(int i=0; i<5; i++) {
System.out.println("Main Thread");
}
}
}

Output :

Main Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread
Main Thread
Main Thread
Main Thread
Main Thread

Thread using Method Reference :

package com.codeFactory.methodAndConstructorReference;public class Test {
public void m1() {
for(int i=0; i<5; i++) {
System.out.println("Child Thread");
}
}

public static void main(String... args) {
Test t = new Test();
Runnable r = t :: m1;
Thread t1 = new Thread(r);
//Thread t1 = new Thread(new Test()::m1);
t1.start();
for(int i=0; i<5; i++) {
System.out.println("Main Thread");
}
}
}

Output :

Main Thread
Main Thread
Main Thread
Main Thread
Main Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread
Child Thread

--

--