Arbitrary-Instance Method References

import java.util.*;
import java.util.stream.*;

List<String> names = List.of("alice","bob","carol");

// String::toUpperCase — receiver is each list element
List<String> upper = names.stream()
    .map(String::toUpperCase)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());
System.out.println(upper); // [ALICE, BOB, CAROL]

// String::length matches Function<String, Integer>
// Equivalent to: s -> s.length()
Function<String, Integer> len = String::length;
System.out.println(len.apply("Java")); // 4

// String::isEmpty matches Predicate<String>
// Equivalent to: s -> s.isEmpty()
Predicate<String> isEmpty = String::isEmpty;
System.out.println(isEmpty.test(""));   // true

List<String> words = List.of("Hello","","World","","Java");

// filter with String::isEmpty
long empty = words.stream().filter(String::isEmpty).count();
System.out.println(empty); // 2

// map with String::toLowerCase
words.stream()
     .filter(s -> !s.isEmpty())
     .map(String::toLowerCase)
     .forEach(System.out::println);

import java.util.function.*;

// String::startsWith → BiPredicate<String, String>
// receiver=first arg, argument=second arg
BiPredicate<String, String> starts = String::startsWith;
System.out.println(starts.test("JavaStream", "Java")); // true
System.out.println(starts.test("Python", "Java"));      // false

List<String> words = List.of("banana","apple","cherry");

List<String> sorted = words.stream()
    .sorted(String::compareTo)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());
System.out.println(sorted); // [apple, banana, cherry]

record Product(String name, double price) {
    boolean isExpensive() { return price > 50; }
    String label() { return name + " ($" + price + ")"; }
}

List<Product> products = List.of(
    new Product("Widget", 9.99),
    new Product("Gadget", 99.99),
    new Product("Donut", 1.50)
);

products.stream()
    .filter(Product::isExpensive)
    .map(Product::label)
    .forEach(System.out::println); // Gadget ($99.99)

String fixed = "prefix";
// Specific instance: fixed is always the receiver
Predicate<String> startsFixed = fixed::startsWith; // always checks 'prefix'.startsWith(arg)

// Arbitrary instance: each element is the receiver
Predicate<String> isEmpty = String::isEmpty; // each element.isEmpty()

List<String> items = List.of("  hello "," world ","  java  ");
List<String> trimmed = items.stream()
    .map(String::trim)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());
System.out.println(trimmed); // [hello, world, java]

Function<String, String> pipeline =
    ((Function<String, String>) String::trim)
        .andThen(String::toUpperCase);

System.out.println(pipeline.apply("  hello world  "));
// HELLO WORLD

// println is overloaded — which one?
// Consumer<String> c = System.out::println; // OK — infers println(String)
// Consumer<Object> c2 = System.out::println; // OK

// But if ambiguous:
// Function<Object,?> fn = System.out::println; // Error — println doesn't return a value