What is the main role and application of lambda expressions in programming?

Lambda expressions in programming are a compact way to describe anonymous functions that can be passed as parameters, stored in variables, and used to implement functional programming styles.

The main role of lambdas is to simplify code, make it more readable and expressive, especially when working with collections, data streams, and event handlers.

Example in Java:

List<String> names = Arrays.asList("Anna", "Bob", "Charlie");
names.forEach(name -> System.out.println(name));

Here, the lambda name -> System.out.println(name) replaces an anonymous class and simplifies the method call for each element of the list.