C# Pass Lambda Expression as Method Parameter

clambdalinq

I have a lambda expression that I'd like to be able to pass around and reuse. Here's the code:

public List<IJob> getJobs(/* i want to pass the lambda expr in here */) {
  using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(getConnectionString())) {
    connection.Open();
    return connection.Query<FullTimeJob, Student, FullTimeJob>(sql, 
      (job, student) => {         
        job.Student = student;
        job.StudentId = student.Id;
        return job;
        },
        splitOn: "user_id",
        param: parameters).ToList<IJob>();   
  }

The key here, is I want to be able to pass the lambda expression that I'm using here into the method that's calling this code, so I can reuse it. The lambda expression is the second argument inside my .Query method. I'm assuming I'd want to use an Action or Func, but I'm not quite sure what the syntax is for this or how it quite works. Can someone please give me an example?

Best Answer

Use a Func<T1, T2, TResult> delegate as the parameter type and pass it in to your Query:

public List<IJob> getJobs(Func<FullTimeJob, Student, FullTimeJob> lambda)
{
  using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(getConnectionString())) {
    connection.Open();
    return connection.Query<FullTimeJob, Student, FullTimeJob>(sql, 
        lambda,
        splitOn: "user_id",
        param: parameters).ToList<IJob>();   
  }  
}

You would call it:

getJobs((job, student) => {         
        job.Student = student;
        job.StudentId = student.Id;
        return job;
        });

Or assign the lambda to a variable and pass it in.

Related Solutions

A lambda (function)

Lambda comes from the Lambda Calculus and refers to anonymous functions in programming.

Why is this cool? It allows you to write quick throw away functions without naming them. It also provides a nice way to write closures. With that power you can do things like this.

Python

def adder(x):
    return lambda y: x + y
add5 = adder(5)
add5(1)
6

As you can see from the snippet of Python, the function adder takes in an argument x, and returns an anonymous function, or lambda, that takes another argument y. That anonymous function allows you to create functions from functions. This is a simple example, but it should convey the power lambdas and closures have.

Examples in other languages

Perl 5

sub adder {
    my ($x) = @_;
    return sub {
        my ($y) = @_;
        $x + $y
    }
}

my $add5 = adder(5);
print &$add5(1) == 6 ? "ok\n" : "not ok\n";

JavaScript

var adder = function (x) {
    return function (y) {
        return x + y;
    };
};
add5 = adder(5);
add5(1) == 6

JavaScript (ES6)

const adder = x => y => x + y;
add5 = adder(5);
add5(1) == 6

Scheme

(define adder
    (lambda (x)
        (lambda (y)
           (+ x y))))
(define add5
    (adder 5))
(add5 1)
6

C# 3.5 or higher

Func<int, Func<int, int>> adder = 
    (int x) => (int y) => x + y; // `int` declarations optional
Func<int, int> add5 = adder(5);
var add6 = adder(6); // Using implicit typing
Debug.Assert(add5(1) == 6);
Debug.Assert(add6(-1) == 5);

// Closure example
int yEnclosed = 1;
Func<int, int> addWithClosure = 
    (x) => x + yEnclosed;
Debug.Assert(addWithClosure(2) == 3);

Swift

func adder(x: Int) -> (Int) -> Int{
   return { y in x + y }
}
let add5 = adder(5)
add5(1)
6

PHP

$a = 1;
$b = 2;

$lambda = fn () => $a + $b;

echo $lambda();

Haskell

(\x y -> x + y)

Java see this post

// The following is an example of Predicate : 
// a functional interface that takes an argument 
// and returns a boolean primitive type.

Predicate<Integer> pred = x -> x % 2 == 0; // Tests if the parameter is even.
boolean result = pred.test(4); // true

Lua

adder = function(x)
    return function(y)
        return x + y
    end
end
add5 = adder(5)
add5(1) == 6        -- true

Kotlin

val pred = { x: Int -> x % 2 == 0 }
val result = pred(4) // true

Ruby

Ruby is slightly different in that you cannot call a lambda using the exact same syntax as calling a function, but it still has lambdas.

def adder(x)
  lambda { |y| x + y }
end
add5 = adder(5)
add5[1] == 6

Ruby being Ruby, there is a shorthand for lambdas, so you can define adder this way:

def adder(x)
  -> y { x + y }
end

adder <- function(x) {
  function(y) x + y
}
add5 <- adder(5)
add5(1)
#> [1] 6

The difference between a ‘closure’ and a ‘lambda’

A lambda is just an anonymous function - a function defined with no name. In some languages, such as Scheme, they are equivalent to named functions. In fact, the function definition is re-written as binding a lambda to a variable internally. In other languages, like Python, there are some (rather needless) distinctions between them, but they behave the same way otherwise.

A closure is any function which closes over the environment in which it was defined. This means that it can access variables not in its parameter list. Examples:

def func(): return h
def anotherfunc(h):
   return func()

This will cause an error, because func does not close over the environment in anotherfunc - h is undefined. func only closes over the global environment. This will work:

def anotherfunc(h):
    def func(): return h
    return func()

Because here, func is defined in anotherfunc, and in python 2.3 and greater (or some number like this) when they almost got closures correct (mutation still doesn't work), this means that it closes over anotherfunc's environment and can access variables inside of it. In Python 3.1+, mutation works too when using the nonlocal keyword.

Another important point - func will continue to close over anotherfunc's environment even when it's no longer being evaluated in anotherfunc. This code will also work:

def anotherfunc(h):
    def func(): return h
    return func

print anotherfunc(10)()

This will print 10.

This, as you notice, has nothing to do with lambdas - they are two different (although related) concepts.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

A lambda (function)

The difference between a ‘closure’ and a ‘lambda’

Related Topic