Java 8 introduced a new type called an intersection type
An intersection type is an intersection of multiple types.
An intersection type may appear as the target type in a cast.
An ampersand is used between two types as Type1 & Type2
to represent a new type that is an intersection of Type1, Type2.
Example
The following code uses a cast with an intersection type that creates a new synthetic type that is a subtype of all types.
It creates two interfaces, Calculator is a functional interface and can be used with lambda expression. The other is called NonFunction
which is not a functional interface. In order to create a lambda expression and assign to NonFunction
we use the &
to create a new subtype.
The intersection type NonFunction & Calculator
is a functional interface.
public class Main { public static void main(String[] argv) { // w w w. j a v a 2s . c o m NonFunction nonFunction = (NonFunction & Calculator) (x,y)-> x + y; } } @FunctionalInterface interface Calculator{ long calculate(long x, long y); } interface NonFunction{ }
Example 2
The following code creates an intersection type by intersecting java.io.Serializable
marker interface with our own functional interface.
public class Main { public static void main(String[] argv) { /*from w ww.j a v a 2 s .com*/ java.io.Serializable ser = (java.io.Serializable & Calculator) (x,y)-> x + y; } } @FunctionalInterface interface Calculator{ long calculate(long x, long y); }
In this way we make a lambda expression serializable.