Editing Java syntax (section)

====Method references====

It is not necessary to use lambdas when there already is a named method compatible with the interface. This method can be passed instead of a lambda using a method reference. There are several types of method references:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Reference type !! Example !! Equivalent lambda
|-
| Static || <code>Integer::sum</code> || <code>(number, otherNumber) -> number + otherNumber</code>
|-
| Bound || <code>"LongString"::substring</code> || <code>index -> "LongString".substring(index)</code>
|-
| Unbound || <code>String::isEmpty</code> || <code>string -> string.isEmpty()</code>
|-
| Class constructor || <code>ArrayList<String>::new</code> || <code>capacity -> new ArrayList<String>(capacity)</code>
|-
| Array constructor || <code>String[]::new</code> || <code>size -> new String[size]</code>
|}

The code above which calls <code>runCalculation</code> could be replaced with the following using the method references:

<syntaxhighlight lang="java>
runCalculation(Integer::sum);
</syntaxhighlight>