Identity of Lambdas (was Re: JEP 186: Collection Literals)

Remi Forax forax at univ-mlv.fr
Sat Jan 18 05:49:32 PST 2014


On 01/18/2014 12:54 PM, Millies, Sebastian wrote:
> Surprising, at least when one thinks of lambdas as functions, not objects.
>
> I was under the impression that lambdas could not be used as hash keys, because they had no
> well-defined identity. The source for this belief was Stuart Mark's answer at
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15221659/java-8-lambda-expression-and-first-class-values
> from which I quote:
>
> <quote>
> Given that lambdas are converted into objects, they inherit (literally) all the characteristics of objects. In particular, objects:
>
>      have various methods like equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, toString, and wait
>      have an identity hash code
>      can be locked by a synchronized block
>      can be compared using the == and != and instanceof operators
>
> and so forth. In fact, all of these are irrelevant to the intended usage of lambdas. Their behavior is essentially undefined. You can write a program that uses any of these, and you will get some result, but the result may differ from release to release (or even run to run!).
> </quote>
>
> In Peter's example, the only thing that seems to matter would be that if a lambda has an identity hash code, that will not change while the JVM exists. But will the antecedent always be true in the future (function types etc.?)
> Are there some minimal guarantees on the identities of lambdas, and where are they described?
>
> I took Stuart's remark "Their behavior is essentially undefined" to mean: Don't do these things with lambdas! Would that be sound advice?
>
> -- Sebastian

Lambdas have not identity so by example,
   IntBinaryOperation fun = x -> x;
   IntBinaryOperation fun2 = fun;
   fun == fun2
may be true then false if executed several times.

So minimal guarantees are that there is no guarantee :)

Rémi

>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lambda-dev-bounces at openjdk.java.net [mailto:lambda-dev-bounces at openjdk.java.net] On Behalf Of Peter Levart
> Sent: Saturday, January 18, 2014 12:17 PM
> To: Remi Forax; lambda-dev at openjdk.java.net
> Subject: [Spam]: Re: JEP 186: Collection Literals
>
>
> On 01/16/2014 12:43 AM, Remi Forax wrote:
>> We can also use the Builder Pattern of Ruby now that we have a lambda syntax
>>      new ArrayList<>(builder -> builder.add(1).add(2).add(3));
>>
>> Rémi
> This one is interesting, because it shows what can be achieved with lambdas today. It enables expressions that evaluate into singleton objects (like non-capturing lambdas). If the lambda body is non-capturing, it evaluates into constant singleton in current implementation. So objects produced with such lambdas can be cached (using lambda object as a weak key). Here's a sample test that exercises
> that:
>
> public class Test {
>       public static void main(String[] args) {
>           for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
>               List<Double> list = immutableList(b -> b._(3.14)._(0.33333));
>               System.out.println(list + " : " + System.identityHashCode(list));
>           }
>           System.out.println();
>           for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
>               double x = i;
>               List<Double> list = immutableList(b -> b._(3.14)._(0.33333)._(x));
>               System.out.println(list + " : " + System.identityHashCode(list));
>           }
>           System.out.println();
>           for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
>               Map<String, Integer> map = immutableMap(b -> b._("aa", 1)._("bb", 2)._("cc", 3));
>               System.out.println(map + " : " + System.identityHashCode(map));
>           }
>           System.out.println();
>           for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
>               int x = i;
>               Map<String, Integer> map = immutableMap(b -> b._("aa", 1)._("bb", 2)._("cc", x));
>               System.out.println(map + " : " + System.identityHashCode(map));
>           }
>       }
> }
>
> which prints:
>
> [3.14, 0.33333] : 1706377736
> [3.14, 0.33333] : 1706377736
> [3.14, 0.33333] : 1706377736
>
> [3.14, 0.33333, 0.0] : 868693306
> [3.14, 0.33333, 1.0] : 989110044
> [3.14, 0.33333, 2.0] : 321001045
>
> {aa=1, bb=2, cc=3} : 1044036744
> {aa=1, bb=2, cc=3} : 1044036744
> {aa=1, bb=2, cc=3} : 1044036744
>
> {aa=1, bb=2, cc=0} : 1915318863
> {aa=1, bb=2, cc=1} : 295530567
> {aa=1, bb=2, cc=2} : 1324119927
>
>
>
> Regards, Peter
>
>
> P.S. Here's what I used to compile above test:
>
> public interface Builder<T> extends Consumer<T> {
>       default Builder<T> _(T t) {
>           accept(t);
>           return this;
>       }
> }
>
> public interface BiBuilder<T, U> extends BiConsumer<T, U> {
>       default BiBuilder<T, U> _(T t, U u) {
>           accept(t, u);
>           return this;
>       }
> }
>
> public class Collections2 {
>
>       public static <T> ArrayList<T> arrayList(Consumer<Builder<T>>
> producer) {
>           ArrayList<T> list = new ArrayList<>();
>           producer.accept(list::add);
>           return list;
>       }
>
>       // cache of immutable lists per producer
>       private static final Map<Consumer<? extends Builder<?>>, List<?>> INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_LISTS = new WeakHashMap<>();
>
>       public static <T> List<T> immutableList(Consumer<Builder<T>>
> producer) {
>           synchronized (INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_LISTS) {
>               // check if already interned
>               @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
>               List<T> list = (List<T>)
> INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_LISTS.get(producer);
>               if (list != null) return list;
>           }
>
>           // count elements produced
>           final int[] count = new int[1];
>           producer.accept(t -> count[0]++);
>
>           // construct new list
>           ArrayList<T> aList = new ArrayList<>(count[0]);
>           producer.accept(aList::add);
>
>           synchronized (INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_LISTS) {
>               // recheck (highly unlikely)
>               @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
>               List<T> list = (List<T>)
> INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_LISTS.get(producer);
>               if (list != null) return list;
>               // put it into cache and return
>               list = Collections.unmodifiableList(aList);
>               INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_LISTS.put(producer, list);
>               return list;
>           }
>       }
>
>       public static <K, V> HashMap<K, V> hashMap(Consumer<BiBuilder<K,
> V>> producer) {
>           HashMap<K, V> map = new HashMap<>();
>           producer.accept(map::put);
>           return map;
>       }
>
>       // cache of immutable maps per producer
>       private static final Map<Consumer<? extends BiBuilder<?, ?>>, Map<?, ?>> INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_MAPS = new WeakHashMap<>();
>
>       public static <K, V> Map<K, V> immutableMap(Consumer<BiBuilder<K,
> V>> producer) {
>           synchronized (INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_MAPS) {
>               // check if already interned
>               @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
>               Map<K, V> map = (Map<K, V>) INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_MAPS.get(producer);
>               if (map != null) return map;
>           }
>
>           // count elements produced
>           final int[] count = new int[1];
>           producer.accept((k, v) -> count[0]++);
>
>           // construct new map
>           HashMap<K, V> hMap = new HashMap<>(count[0] * 4 / 3);
>           producer.accept(hMap::put);
>
>           synchronized (INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_MAPS) {
>               // recheck (highly unlikely)
>               @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
>               Map<K, V> map = (Map<K, V>) INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_MAPS.get(producer);
>               if (map != null) return map;
>               // put it into cache and return
>               map = Collections.unmodifiableMap(hMap);
>               INTERNED_IMMUTABLE_MAPS.put(producer, map);
>               return map;
>           }
>       }
> }
>
>
>
>
> Software AG – Sitz/Registered office: Uhlandstraße 12, 64297 Darmstadt, Germany – Registergericht/Commercial register: Darmstadt HRB 1562 - Vorstand/Management Board: Karl-Heinz Streibich (Vorsitzender/Chairman), Dr. Wolfram Jost, Arnd Zinnhardt; - Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender/Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Dr. Andreas Bereczky - http://www.softwareag.com
>
>



More information about the lambda-dev mailing list