Comprehensive Guide to Java 8 Stream API with Practical Examples

1. Stream Overview

Java 8 introduced the Stream API together with Lambda expressions, greatly simplifying operations on collections.

Stream treats the source collection as a flow of data, allowing operations like filter, sort, and aggregate.

Stream can be created from arrays or collections and supports two types of operations: intermediate (returning a new stream) and terminal (producing a result).

2. Creating Streams

Streams can be created in three ways:

Using Collection.stream() or Collection.parallelStream() .

Using Arrays.stream(array) for primitive or object arrays.

Using static methods Stream.of() , Stream.iterate() , and Stream.generate() .

List
list = Arrays.asList("a", "b", "c");
Stream
stream = list.stream();
Stream
parallel = list.parallelStream();
Stream
s = Stream.of(1,2,3);
Stream
s2 = Stream.iterate(0, x -> x + 3).limit(4);
Stream
s3 = Stream.generate(Math::random).limit(3);

3. Using Streams

Before using streams, understand the Optional type, which may contain a value or be empty.

3.1 Traversal and Matching

List
list = Arrays.asList(7,6,9,3,8,2,1);
list.stream().filter(x -> x > 6).forEach(System.out::println);
Optional
first = list.stream().filter(x -> x > 6).findFirst();
Optional
any = list.parallelStream().filter(x -> x > 6).findAny();
boolean anyMatch = list.stream().anyMatch(x -> x < 6);

3.2 Filtering

List
list = Arrays.asList(6,7,3,8,1,2,9);
list.stream().filter(x -> x > 7).forEach(System.out::println);

Filtering a list of Person objects by salary:

List
highEarners = personList.stream()
    .filter(p -> p.getSalary() > 8000)
    .map(Person::getName)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());

3.3 Aggregation

List
list = Arrays.asList(1,3,2,8,11,4);
Optional
sum = list.stream().reduce(Integer::sum);
Optional
product = list.stream().reduce((x,y) -> x * y);
Optional
max = list.stream().reduce(Integer::max);

3.4 Mapping

String[] arr = {"abcd","bcdd","defde","fTr"};
List
upper = Arrays.stream(arr)
    .map(String::toUpperCase)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());

3.5 Reduction

List
list = Arrays.asList(1,3,2,8,11,4);
Optional
sum = list.stream().reduce(Integer::sum);

3.6 Collecting

The collect operation gathers stream elements into containers or computes statistics.

3.6.1 Collecting to List/Set/Map

List
evens = list.stream().filter(x -> x % 2 == 0).collect(Collectors.toList());
Set
evenSet = list.stream().filter(x -> x % 2 == 0).collect(Collectors.toSet());
Map
map = personList.stream()
    .filter(p -> p.getSalary() > 8000)
    .collect(Collectors.toMap(Person::getName, p -> p));

3.6.2 Statistics

Long count = personList.stream().collect(Collectors.counting());
Double avg = personList.stream().collect(Collectors.averagingDouble(Person::getSalary));
Optional
max = personList.stream().map(Person::getSalary).collect(Collectors.maxBy(Integer::compare));
Integer sum = personList.stream().collect(Collectors.summingInt(Person::getSalary));
DoubleSummaryStatistics stats = personList.stream().collect(Collectors.summarizingDouble(Person::getSalary));

3.6.3 Grouping

Map
> byHighSalary = personList.stream()
    .collect(Collectors.partitioningBy(p -> p.getSalary() > 8000));
Map
> bySex = personList.stream()
    .collect(Collectors.groupingBy(Person::getSex));
Map
>> bySexAndArea = personList.stream()
    .collect(Collectors.groupingBy(Person::getSex, Collectors.groupingBy(Person::getArea)));

3.6.4 Joining

String names = personList.stream()
    .map(Person::getName)
    .collect(Collectors.joining(","));
String joined = Arrays.asList("A","B","C").stream()
    .collect(Collectors.joining("-"));

3.6.5 Reducing (Collectors.reducing)

Integer taxedSum = personList.stream()
    .collect(Collectors.reducing(0, Person::getSalary, (i,j) -> i + j - 5000));

3.7 Sorting

List
bySalary = personList.stream()
    .sorted(Comparator.comparing(Person::getSalary))
    .map(Person::getName)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());
List
bySalaryDesc = personList.stream()
    .sorted(Comparator.comparing(Person::getSalary).reversed())
    .map(Person::getName)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());

3.8 Extraction and Combination

String[] a1 = {"a","b","c","d"};
String[] a2 = {"d","e","f","g"};
List
merged = Stream.concat(Stream.of(a1), Stream.of(a2))
    .distinct()
    .collect(Collectors.toList());
List
limited = Stream.iterate(1, x -> x + 2).limit(10).collect(Collectors.toList());
List
skipped = Stream.iterate(1, x -> x + 2).skip(1).limit(5).collect(Collectors.toList());

4. Stream Source Code Analysis

The source code of the Stream API will be explored in future articles.