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What is the best way to pass `this` to a supplier?

In Java 8+ we have Function.identity() which will return back the input object - equivalent to t -> t
Is there a predefined function or another way that returns this - equivalent to () -> this? If so, does it provide a benefit? (for example, saved allocations and anonymous class definitions)
Edit
Perhaps this question deserves some expansion. A specific case I am looking at is java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture#completeAsync(java.util.function.Supplier<? extends T>)
I have a class that holds a value and a future that will eventually resolve, but not until another component is ready. I don't want to complete it with future.complete(...) because the calling thread would have to perform any chained actions.
class Thing<T> {
final T value;
final CompletableFuture<T> future;
Thing<T> self() {
return this;
}
void reject() {
future.cancel(false);
}
void complete() {
// Does allocating the lambda here have a cost?
future.complete(() -> this);
// Does passing a method reference avoid one?
future.complete(this::self);
}
}

From outside: If you have an object o and want to get something like o.getThis() and expect the refernce to oas a result, why not use o directly?
From inside: As soon as you are running code within o, it can reference other fields or methods by indicating this.otherField. An alternative would be to reference something inherited, which could end up in super.otherField.
So I do not see any benefit here to have one more function.

Invoking method using reflection

I am trying to figure out how to invoke a method of a custom class. Here is the process of what I am trying to do:
1) I initialize an array of methods from the list of methods of my custom class, and an empty List of Method which will be used to hold a filtered list of these methods.
Method method[] = MyClass.getDeclaredMethods();
List<Method> x = new ArrayList<Method>();
2) I then run my array of methods through a for loop and filter out whichever methods do not fill my required criteria.
for (Method m : methods){
if(...){
if(...){
x.add(m);
}
}
}
3) Finally, I need to invoke each of the methods in the finalized list. This is where I am stuck, I am not exactly sure how the invoke function works. Here is what I am trying:
for(int i=0; i < x.size(); i++){
boolean g = x.get(i).invoke();
if(...)
else(...)
}
The thing is, I know Exactly what it is I don't know, I am just having trouble finding the answers. These are the questions I need answered:
1) Which object will actually use the invoke function? Is it going to be, in my case, the particular method I want to invoke, or an instance of the class I am trying to invoke?
2) I know that the invoke function is going to require arguments, one of which is the parameter data for the method. What I am unclear about is what exactly the first argument needs to be. I am thinking that the first argument is the actual method itself, but then I run into a logical loop, because the way I have it coded has the method using the invoke function, so I am stumped.
3) In my case, the methods I wish to invoke don't actually take any parameters, so when I do happen to figure out how the invoke function works, will I need to set one of the arguments to null, or will I just omit that part of the argument list?

You're using .invoke incorrectly. See this short example:
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) throws NoSuchMethodException, SecurityException, IllegalAccessException, IllegalArgumentException, InvocationTargetException {
X obj = new X();
Method method = obj.getClass().getMethod("test", null);
method.invoke(obj, null);
}
}
class X {
public void test(){
System.out.println("method call");
}
}
Output:
method call
More information in the docs.
Invokes the underlying method represented by this Method object, on the specified object with the specified parameters.
You have never specified an object nor parameters. My sample uses no parameters so I can put null instead. But either way you have to provide an instance as the first parameter (unless it is static).

Calling a blocking method from Constructor - Java

I would like to know if it is a bad idea to call a blocking method from within constructor itself.
I am curious to know if we have any guidelines/rules in such a scenario, that we should never call blocking methods in Constructor.
Basically I am trying to do this:
class A
{
// Many instance variables that is to be initialized on instantiaion
String tempVar = null;
public A()
{
// Initialize all the instance variables
tempVar=objectClassB.**callBlockingMethod**(); // this method call would return
// some data from ClassB Object
}
public static void main(String args ...)
{
A a = new A();
// Or should I call the blocking method call only after instantiation according
// to any guidelines of Java pertaining to performance ?
// IMPORTANT: It's only when the blocked method returns value , should the main
// thread proceed as the object 'a' would be sent for further processing
}
}
PS: Eh ,I'm sorry if my question sounds very basic.

I thought its better you can create one method like connect () inside the class A. After creating object you can call like
A a = new A()
A.connect()
Inside connect method you define the blocking method
StreamConnection con=notifier.acceptAndOpen()
.....
if your blocking call doesn't return in specified time period, you consider some mechanism to recover this scenario

Is it possible to create a method to have a method passed as parameter and be called inside it?

well I'm wondering if it's possible to have a method where another method is passed as a parameter, so the first method can call the method passed in param?
Like for instance:
public void goToVisitManagementForm() throws ParseException {
if (isAuthenticated() && userTypeIs("Patient")) {
// I could have this whole block just moved to another method?
Panel newPanel = new Panel("Choose the details for your visit");
Component visitManagementForm = new VisitManagementForm(userData,
this);
newPanel.addComponent(visitManagementForm);
mainWindow.setMainPanel(newPanel);
} else {
authenticate();
}
}
If the code block would be moved to another method and it would be passed as a parameter to this method. How can I achieve that and is this a good practice? Because in this case I have the ifs that I always need to paste in...
What about other aspects of this?

This is called a higher-order function and you cannot do this in Java 7 or below. You can simulate passing functions to other functions through the use of an anonymous class that instantiates some interface the function expects, and then calling the function on that object.
For example, to pass a no-arg function:
interface Function {
void apply();
}
void takesAFunction(Function function) {
function.apply();
}
Then the following code snippet would do what you want:
Function myFunction = new Function() {
#Override
public void apply() {
// your code here.
}
};
takesAFunction(myFunction);
As a side note, reflection is extreme overkill for this type of problem.

You can pass methods as parameters using Java Reflection API.
First, you get a method object from a class:
Class c = MyClass.class;
Method[] methods = c.getMethods();
Method m = // choose the method you want
Then your function can take a Method object as a parameter:
public void aFunction(MyClass o, Method m);
And then inside that function you can invoke the method:
m.invoke(o);
This is a very simple example, where the method doesn't take any parameters. It's pretty easy to expand on this example and add the parameters as well.

Yes, but it is a very advanced procedure. You need to use the Method object. Here is the javadoc on Method:
here is the javadoc:
- http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/reflect/Method.html
If I am understanding your question correctly, you want to be able to pass a method as a parameter. There really is no 'smooth' way to do this in Java. In objective C, it is built right into the language, (#selector tag)

What's the nearest substitute for a function pointer in Java?

I have a method that's about ten lines of code. I want to create more methods that do exactly the same thing, except for a small calculation that's going to change one line of code. This is a perfect application for passing in a function pointer to replace that one line, but Java doesn't have function pointers. What's my best alternative?

Anonymous inner class
Say you want to have a function passed in with a String param that returns an int.
First you have to define an interface with the function as its only member, if you can't reuse an existing one.
interface StringFunction {
int func(String param);
}
A method that takes the pointer would just accept StringFunction instance like so:
public void takingMethod(StringFunction sf) {
int i = sf.func("my string");
// do whatever ...
}
And would be called like so:
ref.takingMethod(new StringFunction() {
public int func(String param) {
// body
}
});
EDIT: In Java 8, you could call it with a lambda expression:
ref.takingMethod(param -> bodyExpression);

For each "function pointer", I'd create a small functor class that implements your calculation.
Define an interface that all the classes will implement, and pass instances of those objects into your larger function. This is a combination of the "command pattern", and "strategy pattern".
#sblundy's example is good.

When there is a predefined number of different calculations you can do in that one line, using an enum is a quick, yet clear way to implement a strategy pattern.
public enum Operation {
PLUS {
public double calc(double a, double b) {
return a + b;
}
},
TIMES {
public double calc(double a, double b) {
return a * b;
}
}
...
public abstract double calc(double a, double b);
}
Obviously, the strategy method declaration, as well as exactly one instance of each implementation are all defined in a single class/file.

You need to create an interface that provides the function(s) that you want to pass around. eg:
/**
* A simple interface to wrap up a function of one argument.
*
* #author rcreswick
*
*/
public interface Function1<S, T> {
/**
* Evaluates this function on it's arguments.
*
* #param a The first argument.
* #return The result.
*/
public S eval(T a);
}
Then, when you need to pass a function, you can implement that interface:
List<Integer> result = CollectionUtilities.map(list,
new Function1<Integer, Integer>() {
#Override
public Integer eval(Integer a) {
return a * a;
}
});
Finally, the map function uses the passed in Function1 as follows:
public static <K,R,S,T> Map<K, R> zipWith(Function2<R,S,T> fn,
Map<K, S> m1, Map<K, T> m2, Map<K, R> results){
Set<K> keySet = new HashSet<K>();
keySet.addAll(m1.keySet());
keySet.addAll(m2.keySet());
results.clear();
for (K key : keySet) {
results.put(key, fn.eval(m1.get(key), m2.get(key)));
}
return results;
}
You can often use Runnable instead of your own interface if you don't need to pass in parameters, or you can use various other techniques to make the param count less "fixed" but it's usually a trade-off with type safety. (Or you can override the constructor for your function object to pass in the params that way.. there are lots of approaches, and some work better in certain circumstances.)

Method references using the :: operator
You can use method references in method arguments where the method accepts a functional interface. A functional interface is any interface that contains only one abstract method. (A functional interface may contain one or more default methods or static methods.)
IntBinaryOperator is a functional interface. Its abstract method, applyAsInt, accepts two ints as its parameters and returns an int. Math.max also accepts two ints and returns an int. In this example, A.method(Math::max); makes parameter.applyAsInt send its two input values to Math.max and return the result of that Math.max.
import java.util.function.IntBinaryOperator;
class A {
static void method(IntBinaryOperator parameter) {
int i = parameter.applyAsInt(7315, 89163);
System.out.println(i);
}
}
import java.lang.Math;
class B {
public static void main(String[] args) {
A.method(Math::max);
}
}
In general, you can use:
method1(Class1::method2);
instead of:
method1((arg1, arg2) -> Class1.method2(arg1, arg2));
which is short for:
method1(new Interface1() {
int method1(int arg1, int arg2) {
return Class1.method2(arg1, agr2);
}
});
For more information, see :: (double colon) operator in Java 8 and Java Language Specification §15.13.

You can also do this (which in some RARE occasions makes sense). The issue (and it is a big issue) is that you lose all the typesafety of using a class/interface and you have to deal with the case where the method does not exist.
It does have the "benefit" that you can ignore access restrictions and call private methods (not shown in the example, but you can call methods that the compiler would normally not let you call).
Again, it is a rare case that this makes sense, but on those occasions it is a nice tool to have.
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;
class Main
{
public static void main(final String[] argv)
throws NoSuchMethodException,
IllegalAccessException,
IllegalArgumentException,
InvocationTargetException
{
final String methodName;
final Method method;
final Main main;
main = new Main();
if(argv.length == 0)
{
methodName = "foo";
}
else
{
methodName = "bar";
}
method = Main.class.getDeclaredMethod(methodName, int.class);
main.car(method, 42);
}
private void foo(final int x)
{
System.out.println("foo: " + x);
}
private void bar(final int x)
{
System.out.println("bar: " + x);
}
private void car(final Method method,
final int val)
throws IllegalAccessException,
IllegalArgumentException,
InvocationTargetException
{
method.invoke(this, val);
}
}

If you have just one line which is different you could add a parameter such as a flag and a if(flag) statement which calls one line or the other.

You may also be interested to hear about work going on for Java 7 involving closures:
What’s the current state of closures in Java?
http://gafter.blogspot.com/2006/08/closures-for-java.html
http://tech.puredanger.com/java7/#closures

New Java 8 Functional Interfaces and Method References using the :: operator.
Java 8 is able to maintain method references ( MyClass::new ) with "# Functional Interface" pointers. There are no need for same method name, only same method signature required.
Example:
#FunctionalInterface
interface CallbackHandler{
public void onClick();
}
public class MyClass{
public void doClick1(){System.out.println("doClick1");;}
public void doClick2(){System.out.println("doClick2");}
public CallbackHandler mClickListener = this::doClick;
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyClass myObjectInstance = new MyClass();
CallbackHandler pointer = myObjectInstance::doClick1;
Runnable pointer2 = myObjectInstance::doClick2;
pointer.onClick();
pointer2.run();
}
}
So, what we have here?
Functional Interface - this is interface, annotated or not with #FunctionalInterface, which contains only one method declaration.
Method References - this is just special syntax, looks like this, objectInstance::methodName, nothing more nothing less.
Usage example - just an assignment operator and then interface method call.
YOU SHOULD USE FUNCTIONAL INTERFACES FOR LISTENERS ONLY AND ONLY FOR THAT!
Because all other such function pointers are really bad for code readability and for ability to understand. However, direct method references sometimes come handy, with foreach for example.
There are several predefined Functional Interfaces:
Runnable -> void run( );
Supplier<T> -> T get( );
Consumer<T> -> void accept(T);
Predicate<T> -> boolean test(T);
UnaryOperator<T> -> T apply(T);
BinaryOperator<T,U,R> -> R apply(T, U);
Function<T,R> -> R apply(T);
BiFunction<T,U,R> -> R apply(T, U);
//... and some more of it ...
Callable<V> -> V call() throws Exception;
Readable -> int read(CharBuffer) throws IOException;
AutoCloseable -> void close() throws Exception;
Iterable<T> -> Iterator<T> iterator();
Comparable<T> -> int compareTo(T);
Comparator<T> -> int compare(T,T);
For earlier Java versions you should try Guava Libraries, which has similar functionality, and syntax, as Adrian Petrescu has mentioned above.
For additional research look at Java 8 Cheatsheet
and thanks to The Guy with The Hat for the Java Language Specification §15.13 link.

#sblundy's answer is great, but anonymous inner classes have two small flaws, the primary being that they tend not to be reusable and the secondary is a bulky syntax.
The nice thing is that his pattern expands into full classes without any change in the main class (the one performing the calculations).
When you instantiate a new class you can pass parameters into that class which can act as constants in your equation--so if one of your inner classes look like this:
f(x,y)=x*y
but sometimes you need one that is:
f(x,y)=x*y*2
and maybe a third that is:
f(x,y)=x*y/2
rather than making two anonymous inner classes or adding a "passthrough" parameter, you can make a single ACTUAL class that you instantiate as:
InnerFunc f=new InnerFunc(1.0);// for the first
calculateUsing(f);
f=new InnerFunc(2.0);// for the second
calculateUsing(f);
f=new InnerFunc(0.5);// for the third
calculateUsing(f);
It would simply store the constant in the class and use it in the method specified in the interface.
In fact, if KNOW that your function won't be stored/reused, you could do this:
InnerFunc f=new InnerFunc(1.0);// for the first
calculateUsing(f);
f.setConstant(2.0);
calculateUsing(f);
f.setConstant(0.5);
calculateUsing(f);
But immutable classes are safer--I can't come up with a justification to make a class like this mutable.
I really only post this because I cringe whenever I hear anonymous inner class--I've seen a lot of redundant code that was "Required" because the first thing the programmer did was go anonymous when he should have used an actual class and never rethought his decision.

The Google Guava libraries, which are becoming very popular, have a generic Function and Predicate object that they have worked into many parts of their API.

One of the things I really miss when programming in Java is function callbacks. One situation where the need for these kept presenting itself was in recursively processing hierarchies where you want to perform some specific action for each item. Like walking a directory tree, or processing a data structure. The minimalist inside me hates having to define an interface and then an implementation for each specific case.
One day I found myself wondering why not? We have method pointers - the Method object. With optimizing JIT compilers, reflective invocation really doesn't carry a huge performance penalty anymore. And besides next to, say, copying a file from one location to another, the cost of the reflected method invocation pales into insignificance.
As I thought more about it, I realized that a callback in the OOP paradigm requires binding an object and a method together - enter the Callback object.
Check out my reflection based solution for Callbacks in Java. Free for any use.

Sounds like a strategy pattern to me. Check out fluffycat.com Java patterns.

oK, this thread is already old enough, so very probably my answer is not helpful for the question. But since this thread helped me to find my solution, I'll put it out here anyway.
I needed to use a variable static method with known input and known output (both double). So then, knowing the method package and name, I could work as follows:
java.lang.reflect.Method Function = Class.forName(String classPath).getMethod(String method, Class[] params);
for a function that accepts one double as a parameter.
So, in my concrete situation I initialized it with
java.lang.reflect.Method Function = Class.forName("be.qan.NN.ActivationFunctions").getMethod("sigmoid", double.class);
and invoked it later in a more complex situation with
return (java.lang.Double)this.Function.invoke(null, args);
java.lang.Object[] args = new java.lang.Object[] {activity};
someOtherFunction() + 234 + (java.lang.Double)Function.invoke(null, args);
where activity is an arbitrary double value. I am thinking of maybe doing this a bit more abstract and generalizing it, as SoftwareMonkey has done, but currently I am happy enough with the way it is. Three lines of code, no classes and interfaces necessary, that's not too bad.

To do the same thing without interfaces for an array of functions:
class NameFuncPair
{
public String name; // name each func
void f(String x) {} // stub gets overridden
public NameFuncPair(String myName) { this.name = myName; }
}
public class ArrayOfFunctions
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
final A a = new A();
final B b = new B();
NameFuncPair[] fArray = new NameFuncPair[]
{
new NameFuncPair("A") { #Override void f(String x) { a.g(x); } },
new NameFuncPair("B") { #Override void f(String x) { b.h(x); } },
};
// Go through the whole func list and run the func named "B"
for (NameFuncPair fInstance : fArray)
{
if (fInstance.name.equals("B"))
{
fInstance.f(fInstance.name + "(some args)");
}
}
}
}
class A { void g(String args) { System.out.println(args); } }
class B { void h(String args) { System.out.println(args); } }

Check out lambdaj
http://code.google.com/p/lambdaj/
and in particular its new closure feature
http://code.google.com/p/lambdaj/wiki/Closures
and you will find a very readable way to define closure or function pointer without creating meaningless interface or use ugly inner classes

Wow, why not just create a Delegate class which is not all that hard given that I already did for java and use it to pass in parameter where T is return type. I am sorry but as a C++/C# programmer in general just learning java, I need function pointers because they are very handy. If you are familiar with any class which deals with Method Information you can do it. In java libraries that would be java.lang.reflect.method.
If you always use an interface, you always have to implement it. In eventhandling there really isn't a better way around registering/unregistering from the list of handlers but for delegates where you need to pass in functions and not the value type, making a delegate class to handle it for outclasses an interface.

None of the Java 8 answers have given a full, cohesive example, so here it comes.
Declare the method that accepts the "function pointer" as follows:
void doCalculation(Function<Integer, String> calculation, int parameter) {
final String result = calculation.apply(parameter);
}
Call it by providing the function with a lambda expression:
doCalculation((i) -> i.toString(), 2);

If anyone is struggling to pass a function that takes one set of parameters to define its behavior but another set of parameters on which to execute, like Scheme's:
(define (function scalar1 scalar2)
(lambda (x) (* x scalar1 scalar2)))
see Pass Function with Parameter-Defined Behavior in Java

Since Java8, you can use lambdas, which also have libraries in the official SE 8 API.
Usage:
You need to use a interface with only one abstract method.
Make an instance of it (you may want to use the one java SE 8 already provided) like this:
Function<InputType, OutputType> functionname = (inputvariablename) {
...
return outputinstance;
}
For more information checkout the documentation: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/javaOO/lambdaexpressions.html

Prior to Java 8, nearest substitute for function-pointer-like functionality was an anonymous class. For example:
Collections.sort(list, new Comparator<CustomClass>(){
public int compare(CustomClass a, CustomClass b)
{
// Logic to compare objects of class CustomClass which returns int as per contract.
}
});
But now in Java 8 we have a very neat alternative known as lambda expression, which can be used as:
list.sort((a, b) -> { a.isBiggerThan(b) } );
where isBiggerThan is a method in CustomClass. We can also use method references here:
list.sort(MyClass::isBiggerThan);

The open source safety-mirror project generalizes some of the above mentioned solutions into a library that adds functions, delegates and events to Java.
See the README, or this stackoverflow answer, for a cheat sheet of features.
As for functions, the library introduces a Fun interface, and some sub-interfaces that (together with generics) make up a fluent API for using methods as types.
Fun.With0Params<String> myFunctionField = " hello world "::trim;`
Fun.With2Params<Boolean, Object, Object> equals = Objects::equals;`
public void foo(Fun.With1ParamAndVoid<String> printer) throws Exception {
printer.invoke("hello world);
}
public void test(){
foo(System.out::println);
}
Notice:
that you must choose the sub-interface that matches the number of parameters in the signature you are targeting. Fx, if it has one parameter, choose Fun.With1Param.
that Generics are used to define A) the return type and B) the parameters of the signature.
Also, notice that the signature of the Method Reference passed to the call to the foo() method must match the the Fun defined by method Foo. If it do not, the compiler will emit an error.