> Java designers have really shot every language user in the foot by eschewing the notion of a function from the language. The only way to have a function is to create a class with a single static method.

Java does support lambda expressions.

Also, the fact that in Java everything is a class is something that cuts both ways. As you're already going to have classes, you can have your pure functions as static member functions from any class that suits your fancy. That pretty much works as a function within a namespace.