Modern Java in Action

Chapter 19. Functional programming techniques

This chapter covers

• First-class citizens, higher-order functions, currying, and partial application
• Persistent data structures
• Lazy evaluation and lazy lists as generalizing Java streams
• Pattern matching and how to simulate it in Java
• Referential transparency and caching

In chapter 18, you saw how to think functionally; thinking in terms of side-effect-free methods can help you write more maintainable code. In this chapter, we introduce more advanced functional programming techniques. You can view this chapter as being a mix of practical techniques to apply in your code base, as well as academic information that will make you a more knowledgeable programmer. We discuss higher-order functions, ...