Given these 2 Apache Camel (Java) interfaces ```package org.apache.camel; public interface Predicat...

# getting-started

[Benoît Liessens]

Given these 2 Apache Camel (Java) interfaces

package org.apache.camel;

public interface Predicate {
    boolean matches(Exchange exchange);
}

public interface Expression {
    <T> T evaluate(Exchange exchange, Class<T> type);
}

Kotlin accepts following property declaration

val somePredicate = Predicate { exchange -> true}

For the Expression interface however, Koltin does not accept a similar construct. I must explicitly declare an object and implement the interface method like this:

val someExpression   = object : Expression {
        override fun <T : Any?> evaluate(exchange: Exchange?, type: Class<T>?): T {
            TODO("Not yet implemented")
        }
    }

I fail to understand why however?

[ephemient]

the lambda form can't be parameterized over all <T>

[Adam S]

if you convert Expression to Kotlin and try making it a functional interface you’ll get a more specific error message

Single abstract member cannot declare type parameters

[Benoît Liessens]

Thanks for that @ephemient and @Adam S 👍

[Benoît Liessens]

Continuing on the example with `Predicate`:
does that Predcate { .. } construct have a specific name ?

[Benoît Liessens]

And why is this not accepted?

val somePredicate  : Predicate = { exchange -> true}

[Adam S]

Hmm I’m not sure if there’s a specific name given https://kotlinlang.org/docs/fun-interfaces.html#sam-conversions

[Adam S]

val somePredicate: Predicate = { exchange -> true}

on the left there’s Predicate, but the value has a different type

val blahPredicate: (Exchange) -> Boolean = { exchange: Exchange -> true}

Predicate != (Exchange) -> Boolean

[Benoît Liessens]

Would a @FunctionalInterface annotation on Predicate change anything wrt Predicate != (Exchange) -> Boolean ?

[Adam S]

I think not, but give it a go.

Explicitly typing Predicate {} can be skipped if it’s a function parameter https://kotlinlang.org/docs/java-interop.html#sam-conversions

What you could do is write your own implementation of Predicate using a typealias

typealias Predicate2 = (Exchange) -> Boolean

And then write extension functions for all Apache Camel methods that accept a Predicate to convert from Predicate2 to Predicate, but that sounds like a lot of work for not much gain…

[Benoît Liessens]

Thanks @Adam S

[ephemient]

it would probably be less work to write

fun someKotlinFunction(predicate: (Exchange) -> Boolean) {
    someJavaCamelFunction(..., { predicate(it) }, ...)

or a converter (doesn't save all that much here, but may be more convenient when there are more parameters)

inline fun Predicate(crossinline predicate: (Exchange) -> Boolean): Predicate = Predicate { predicate(it) }

fun someKotlinFunction(predicate: (Exchange) -> Boolean) {
    someJavaCamelFunction(Predicate(predicate))

than to wrap every function that takes a Predicate

[ephemient]

although now that I check, that's not actually necessary; even without a constructor-like wrapper, you can write Predicate(predicate) to convert a (Exchange) -> Boolean to a Predicate

[ephemient]

hmm. was that always possible and I never noticed?

[Adam S]

@ephemient apparently there was a change in 1.6.20? https://kotlinlang.org/docs/fun-interfaces.html#migration-from-an-interface-with-constructor-function-to-a-functional-interface

not sure if it’s related but it looks similar?