IntelliJ IDEA 2017.2 Help

Extract Functional Variable

IntelliJ IDEA lets you extract a functional type variable.

This refactoring creates a functional expression for Java 1.8 and later versions, and an anonymous class for older versions of Java.

Example

BeforeAfter
import java.util.List; public class PrintAction implements Runnable { private List<String> data; public PrintAction(List<String> data) { this.data = data; } public void run() { System.out.println("Data: " + data.toString()); } }
import java.util.List; import java.util.function.Function; public class PrintAction implements Runnable { private List<String> data; public PrintAction(List<String> data) { this.data = data; } public void run() { Function<List<String>, String> presenter = (p) -> "Data: " + p.toString(); System.out.println(presenter.apply(data)); } }

Extracting a functional variable

  1. Select the code fragment, in this example, an argument of the println method.
    argument println
  2. In the main menu, select Refactor | Extract | Functional Variable.
    IntelliJ IDEA opens the Extract Functional Variable dialog.
    extrct funtional var
  3. When the selected code depends on instance fields, like in the example, the Pass field as params check box will appear and you can pass a parameter in a place of fields.
    extrct funtional var parameter
    However, if for example, your selected code fragment depends on any local variable or a parameter
    sample string
    the corresponding entries would appear in the list.
    local variable and parameter
    When you deselect one of the parameters in the dialog, the corresponding local values will be used instead.
    when param deselected
    Configure your options and click OK.
  4. Choose an applicable functional interface from the pop-up.
    functional interface
  5. If you want, change a name of the extracted variable if you don't want to use the name suggested in the list.
    changing variable name

As a result, IntelliJ IDEA creates lambda that you can use further.

composed function
See also the functional parameter refactoring.

Last modified: 29 November 2017

See Also