5 Examples of map() and flatMap() in Java 8 Stream

The map() and flatMap() are prince and princess of functional programming in Java. They are two powerful methods of Stream API which I believe every Java developer should be aware of and should also master it. You can use map() and flatMap() for data transformation, dealing with database operations where you need to convert one object to another while saving or reading from database. You can also use them for parsing and formatting as well as when you want to remove boiler plate code and make your data pipeline concise. The map() function is used in functional programming to transform each element of Stream into another element. 

3 Examples of flatMap() of Stream in Java

Hello guys, if you are doing Java development then you must have come across the flatMap() method on Stream and Optional Class. The flatMap() method is extension of map() function as it does both flattening and mapping (or transformation) instead of just transformation done by map() method. I have explained the difference between map() and flatMap() earlier in detail, but just to revise, let's revisit it. If you have a list of String e.g. {"credit", "debit", "master", "visa"} then you can use the map() method to get a list of integer where each value is length of corresponding String e.g. list.stream().map(s -> s.length()) will produce {6, 5, 6, 4}. This is called transformation because you have transformed an stream of String to a Stream of integer.