Lambda is a linking scheme
Lambda is a linking scheme
The lambda expression is implemented by the invokedynamic JVM instruction, and in this article let’s see why the invokedynamic instruction is actually a way for method linkage.
Firstly let’s define a interface and a class to be called by lambda expression:
/**
* Created by weinanli on 11/06/2017.
*/
public class Calculator {
interface IntegerMath {
int operation(int a, int b);
}
public int operateBinary(int a, int b, IntegerMath op) {
return op.operation(a, b);
}
}
From the above code, we can see the Calculator class has a operateBinary(...) method. The method accepts two integers and a IntegerMath interface for calculation. The IntegerMath interface defines an operation(...) method for the actual calculation process.
Before JDK7, we need to implement the IntegerMath interface by creating a class. With lambda expression, we can reduce the amount of code. Here is the example:
/**
* Created by weinanli on 11/06/2017.
*/
public class PlayWithLambda {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
Calculator myApp = new Calculator();
Calculator.IntegerMath addition = (a, b) -> a + b;
Calculator.IntegerMath subtraction = (a, b) -> a - b;
myApp.operateBinary(40, 2, addition);
myApp.operateBinary(20, 10, subtraction);
}
}
From the above code, we have created two IntegerMath instances with lambda expressions: one is addition, and the other is subtraction.
The lambda expression let us define two anonymous class instances that implements the IntegerMath interface. We just need to write the implemented code of the operation(...) method in lambda expression, and this greatly reduce the amount of the code we need to write.
This works because in the IntegerMath interface, it just contain one method, so the lambda expression won’t have ambiguous meaning: it just implement the sole method defined in the interface.
In the IntelliJ IDE environment, it can detect the lambda expressions and display the link between the expression and the interface method. Here is the screenshot:
From the above screenshot, we can see the $\lambda$ symbol displayed at the left of the two lines of lambda expression symbols. If we click the symbol, it will navigate the code to the interface definition. Here is the screenshot:
After clicking the $\lambda$ symbol in PlayWithLambda class, it navigates to the IntegerMath interface method as shown above.
Now we can check the bytecode to see how this link works in the underlying level. Here is the decompiled byte code of the PlayWithLambda class:
$ javap -c -v PlayWithLambda.class
Classfile /Users/weinanli/Desktop/java/PlayWithLambda.class
Last modified Jun 11, 2017; size 1161 bytes
MD5 checksum 54fe2e615e51b6eea59f94252110b2c9
Compiled from "PlayWithLambda.java"
public class PlayWithLambda
minor version: 0
major version: 52
flags: ACC_PUBLIC, ACC_SUPER
Constant pool:
#1 = Methodref #8.#22 // java/lang/Object."<init>":()V
#2 = Class #23 // Calculator
#3 = Methodref #2.#22 // Calculator."<init>":()V
#4 = InvokeDynamic #0:#28 // #0:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
#5 = InvokeDynamic #1:#28 // #1:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
#6 = Methodref #2.#30 // Calculator.operateBinary:(IILCalculator$IntegerMath;)I
#7 = Class #31 // PlayWithLambda
#8 = Class #32 // java/lang/Object
#9 = Utf8 <init>
#10 = Utf8 ()V
#11 = Utf8 Code
#12 = Utf8 LineNumberTable
#13 = Utf8 main
#14 = Utf8 ([Ljava/lang/String;)V
#15 = Utf8 Exceptions
#16 = Class #33 // java/lang/Exception
#17 = Utf8 lambda$main$1
#18 = Utf8 (II)I
#19 = Utf8 lambda$main$0
#20 = Utf8 SourceFile
#21 = Utf8 PlayWithLambda.java
#22 = NameAndType #9:#10 // "<init>":()V
#23 = Utf8 Calculator
#24 = Utf8 BootstrapMethods
#25 = MethodHandle #6:#34 // invokestatic java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory.metafactory:(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
#26 = MethodType #18 // (II)I
#27 = MethodHandle #6:#35 // invokestatic PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$0:(II)I
#28 = NameAndType #36:#40 // operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
#29 = MethodHandle #6:#41 // invokestatic PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$1:(II)I
#30 = NameAndType #42:#43 // operateBinary:(IILCalculator$IntegerMath;)I
#31 = Utf8 PlayWithLambda
#32 = Utf8 java/lang/Object
#33 = Utf8 java/lang/Exception
#34 = Methodref #44.#45 // java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory.metafactory:(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
#35 = Methodref #7.#46 // PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$0:(II)I
#36 = Utf8 operation
#37 = Class #47 // Calculator$IntegerMath
#38 = Utf8 IntegerMath
#39 = Utf8 InnerClasses
#40 = Utf8 ()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
#41 = Methodref #7.#48 // PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$1:(II)I
#42 = Utf8 operateBinary
#43 = Utf8 (IILCalculator$IntegerMath;)I
#44 = Class #49 // java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory
#45 = NameAndType #50:#53 // metafactory:(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
#46 = NameAndType #19:#18 // lambda$main$0:(II)I
#47 = Utf8 Calculator$IntegerMath
#48 = NameAndType #17:#18 // lambda$main$1:(II)I
#49 = Utf8 java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory
#50 = Utf8 metafactory
#51 = Class #55 // java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup
#52 = Utf8 Lookup
#53 = Utf8 (Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
#54 = Class #56 // java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles
#55 = Utf8 java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup
#56 = Utf8 java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles
{
public PlayWithLambda();
descriptor: ()V
flags: ACC_PUBLIC
Code:
stack=1, locals=1, args_size=1
0: aload_0
1: invokespecial #1 // Method java/lang/Object."<init>":()V
4: return
LineNumberTable:
line 1: 0
public static void main(java.lang.String[]) throws java.lang.Exception;
descriptor: ([Ljava/lang/String;)V
flags: ACC_PUBLIC, ACC_STATIC
Code:
stack=4, locals=4, args_size=1
0: new #2 // class Calculator
3: dup
4: invokespecial #3 // Method Calculator."<init>":()V
7: astore_1
8: invokedynamic #4, 0 // InvokeDynamic #0:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
13: astore_2
14: invokedynamic #5, 0 // InvokeDynamic #1:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
19: astore_3
20: aload_1
21: bipush 40
23: iconst_2
24: aload_2
25: invokevirtual #6 // Method Calculator.operateBinary:(IILCalculator$IntegerMath;)I
28: pop
29: aload_1
30: bipush 20
32: bipush 10
34: aload_3
35: invokevirtual #6 // Method Calculator.operateBinary:(IILCalculator$IntegerMath;)I
38: pop
39: return
LineNumberTable:
line 3: 0
line 4: 8
line 5: 14
line 7: 20
line 8: 29
line 9: 39
Exceptions:
throws java.lang.Exception
}
SourceFile: "PlayWithLambda.java"
InnerClasses:
static #38= #37 of #2; //IntegerMath=class Calculator$IntegerMath of class Calculator
public static final #52= #51 of #54; //Lookup=class java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup of class java/lang/invoke/MethodHandles
BootstrapMethods:
0: #25 invokestatic java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory.metafactory:(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
Method arguments:
#26 (II)I
#27 invokestatic PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$0:(II)I
#26 (II)I
1: #25 invokestatic java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory.metafactory:(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
Method arguments:
#26 (II)I
#29 invokestatic PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$1:(II)I
#26 (II)I
From the above decompiled code, we can see the two lines invokedynamic instructions:
$ javap -c -v PlayWithLambda.class | grep invokedynamic
8: invokedynamic #4, 0 // InvokeDynamic #0:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
14: invokedynamic #5, 0 // InvokeDynamic #1:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
We know the above two lines of instructions are corresponding to the two lines of lambda expressions in the Java code. In above code, the #4, and #5 parameters are the indexes to the constant pool of the code. In the comments of the above code, it has already translated the real contents of the indexes to us, and they are two InvokeDynamic instances. We can also see the table in above decompiled code like this:
Constant pool:
#4 = InvokeDynamic #0:#28 // #0:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
#5 = InvokeDynamic #1:#28 // #1:operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
The InvokeDynmaic instances also receives two parameters. The first one is an index to the bootstrap method table, and they are #0 and #1. The second parameter is an index to the constant pool, and in the comment is has translated the index into the content of the index. Here is the relative info in the constant pool:
Constant pool:
#28 = NameAndType #36:#40 // operation:()LCalculator$IntegerMath;
From the above output, we can see the parameter is an instance of NameAndType class, and it refers to the interface method to be invoked.
Now let’s see the bootstrap methods table:
BootstrapMethods:
0: #25 invokestatic java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory.metafactory:(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
Method arguments:
#26 (II)I
#27 invokestatic PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$0:(II)I
#26 (II)I
1: #25 invokestatic java/lang/invoke/LambdaMetafactory.metafactory:(Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandles$Lookup;Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodHandle;Ljava/lang/invoke/MethodType;)Ljava/lang/invoke/CallSite;
Method arguments:
#26 (II)I
#29 invokestatic PlayWithLambda.lambda$main$1:(II)I
#26 (II)I
The above two LambdaMetafactory.metafactory(...) methods are invoked by the two lambda expressions, and they will link the lambda expressions with the two anonymous class instances that implements the IntegerMath interface.
The final result returned by LambdaMetafactory.metafactory(...) is a CallSite class instance, and it contains the MethodHandle class instance to be invoked.
From the above process, we can see the lambda expression helps us to create anonymous class and the Java compiler will generate the invokedynamic instruction for the lambda expression. At last, the bootstrap method like LambdaMetafactory.metafactory(...) will be put into the bootstrap methods table, and they are used to do the real linking job.