Lambdas and higher order functions #

Chapter 5 of the Kotlin in Action book has a fantastic deep dive into lambdas.

Chapter 8 of the Kotlin in Action book has a great deep dive into higher order functions.

The following is an overly complex example of a calculator function that has 2 plugins (to add and subtract), built using higher order functions.

run {
    val plusPlugin: (Int, Int) -> Int = { x, y -> x + y }
    val minusPlugin: (Int, Int) -> Int = { x, y -> x - y }
    val calc: (Int, Int, (Int, Int) -> Int) -> Int =
            { x, y, plugin ->
                val value = plugin(x, y)
                println(value)
                value
            }
    calc(1, 2, plusPlugin)
    calc(10, 5, minusPlugin)
    "complex-calculator-example"
}

Extension Functions and Lambdas #

Here’s an example of passing a context object to a lambda:

// You can choose what object to bind `this` to in the `call` function.
call { println("${this} ${it}") }

// String.        : context
// (String)->Unit : lambda
fun call (functor: String.(String)->Unit) {
  functor("Context", "Jane")
  "Context".functor("Jane")
}

One of the key concepts is passing a context object to bind this to (in the lambda), very much like JavaScript’s call(thisObject, lambda) method. Watch this video by Venkat Subramaniam on creating internal DSLs in Kotlin.

Also,

Here are more examples of this:

import java.time.*

fun main() {
    ex1()
    ex2()
    ex3()
    ex4()
}

fun ex1(){
    // String.        : context
    // (String)->Unit : lambda
    fun call (functor: String.(String)->Unit) {
        functor("Context", "Jane")
        "Context".functor("Jane")
    }

    // Similar to JS function.call(context, args), where context is this:
    // MDN docs for call: https://tinyurl.com/o8eh6te
    call { println("${this} ${it}") }
}

fun ex2(){
    val ago = "ago"
    val from_now = "from_now"
    infix fun Int.days(tense:String){
        val now = LocalDateTime.now();
        val delta = this.toLong();
        when(tense){
            ago -> println(now.minusDays(delta))
            from_now -> println(now.plusDays(delta))
            else -> println("?")
        }
    }

    // Simple internal DSL syntax.
    2 days ago
    2 days from_now
}

fun ex3(){
    class Meeting(val name: String){
      val start = this
      infix fun at(time:IntRange) {
          println("$name meeting starts at $time")
      }
    }

    infix fun String.meeting(block: Meeting.()->Unit){
        val meeting = Meeting(this)
        block(meeting)
        meeting.block()
    }

    // Simple internal DSL syntax.
    "planning" meeting {
        start at 3..15
    }
}

fun ex4(){
    class Robot{
        val left="left"
        val right="right"
        val fast="fast"

        infix fun turns(direction:String) { println("turns $direction") }
        infix fun runs(speed: String) { println("runs $speed") }
    }

    fun operate(block: Robot.(Robot)->Unit){
        val robot = Robot()
        block(robot, robot)
        robot.block(robot)
    }

    // Simple internal DSL syntax.
    operate{
     	it turns left
        it turns right
        it runs fast
    }
}

Extension Function Expressions combine:

  1. Extension functions - Functions added to a type w/out modifying the original
  2. Function expressions - Undeclared function bodies used as an expression (data)
  3. High order functions - A function that takes a function or returns a function

Here’s an unsophisticated example of using the 3 things above. This is a simple extension function that allows a List of Strings to be filtered Run the code in the Kotlin playground.

fun main() {
    val data = listOf("monkey", "donkey", "banana", "apple")
    println( data.filter{ it.startsWith("b") } )
}

fun <T> List<T>.filter(allow: (T) -> Boolean): List<T>{
    val newList = ArrayList<T>()
    for( item in this ){
        if (allow(item)) { newList.add(item) }
    }
    return newList
}

Example 1 #

Here’s the sophisticated version of this leveraging Extension Function Expressions! Run the code in the Kotlin playground.

fun main() {
    val data = listOf("monkey", "donkey", "banana", "apple")
    println( data.filter{ startsWith("m") } )
}

fun <T> List<T>.filter(allow: T.() -> Boolean): List<T>{
    val newList = ArrayList<T>()
    for( item in this ){
        if (item.allow()) { newList.add(item) }
    }
    return newList
}

Notes:

  1. allow: T.() -> Boolean is used instead of allow: (T) -> Boolean (from the unsophisticated example). The T. means that the function expression is an extension function of T itself!

  2. This means that allow() is an extension function of T!

  3. Since allow() is an extension function of T, this is passed to it, which in this case is a String.

  4. Given the change above, the if (item.allow()) { newList.add(item) } statement is used instead of if (allow(item)) { newList.add(item) } (from the unsophisticated example).

Example 2 #

The following example shows a toast, and allows the creation of a simple DSL syntax for creating the toast. And there’s no way to forget calling show() once it’s created!

inline fun toast(context: Context,
                 text: String = "",
                 duration: Int = Toast.LENGTH_SHORT,
                 functor: Toast.() -> Unit) {
    val toast: Toast = Toast.makeText(context, text, duration)
    toast.functor()
    toast.show()
}

Example of using the function above (with simple DSL syntax for making the toast).

toast(fragment.getParentActivity()) {
    setText(R.string.message_cant_make_autocomplete_request_if_location_is_null)
    duration = Toast.LENGTH_LONG
}

Note that the toast() function has 1 required parameter (context) and the other parameters are optional (and have default values). This means that you can call this function w/ just the 1st argument. In the DSL syntax, the middle 2 arguments aren’t passed, and only the 1st argument (fragment.getParentActivity()) and the last argument (the lambda expression) is passed.

Example 3 #

Very similar to Example 2, but this is for showing a Snackbar. Again, there’s no way to forget calling show() after the Snackbar has been created.

inline fun snack(view: View,
                 text: String = "",
                 duration: Int = Snackbar.LENGTH_SHORT,
                 functor: Snackbar.() -> Unit) {
    val snackbar: Snackbar = Snackbar.make(view, text, duration)
    snackbar.functor()
    snackbar.show()
}

How the function above might be used.

snack(fragmentContainer) {
    setText(R.string.message_making_api_call_getCurrentPlace)
    duration = Snackbar.LENGTH_SHORT
}

Example 4 #

This is an example of a non local return, Kotlin in Action, Ch 8 for an extension function w/ lambdas.

public inline fun <T : AutoCloseable?, R> T.use(block: (T) -> R): R {
    var exception: Throwable? = null
    try {
        return block(this)
    } catch (e: Throwable) {
        exception = e
        throw e
    } finally {
        try { this.close() }
        catch(closeException: Throwable){exception?.addSuppressed(closeException)}
    }
}

Example of using this is shown below.

fun readFirstLineFromFile(path: String): String {
    BufferedReader(FileReader(path)).use { br ->
        return br.readLine()
    }
}

Notes:

  • When the return executes in the lambda, it returns from the function in which the lambda was called from (not just the lambda block itself).

  • The return from the outer function is possible only if the function that takes the lambda as an argument is inlined.

  • More information on when to inline extension functions in Kotlin in Action, Ch 8. Basically its best to include a function extension that accepts lambdas (IntelliJ IDEA has hints that help with this).

You can write a local return from a lambda expression as well. A local return in a lambda is similar to a break expression in a for loop. It stops the execution of the lambda and continues execution of the code from which the lambda was invoked. To distinguish a local return from a non-local one, you use labels. You can label a lambda expression from which you want to return, and then refer to this label after the return keyword.

data class Person(val name: String, val age: Int)
val people = listOf(Person("Alice", 29), Person("Bob", 31))
fun lookForAlice(people: List<Person>) {
    people.forEach label@{
        if (it.name == "Alice") return@label
    }
    println("Alice might be somewhere")
}
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