Can a Stream in Java be considered an example of applying functional programming principles?

Yes, Stream in Java can be considered an example of implementing functional programming principles.

Main features:

• Immutability: operations on Stream do not modify the original data but create new streams.
• Lazy evaluation: operations are performed only when necessary (laziness).
• Functional interfaces: methods accept lambda expressions and functions as parameters (e.g., map, filter).
• Function composition: you can apply a chain of operations sequentially, forming a data processing pipeline.

Example:

List<String> names = Arrays.asList("Anna", "Bob", "Charlie");
List<String> filtered = names.stream()
    .filter(name -> name.startsWith("A"))
    .map(String::toUpperCase)
    .collect(Collectors.toList());

Thus, the Stream API allows writing declarative, clean, and expressive code in the style of functional programming.