I'm trying to add element to a List[String] while omitting annoying parenthesis. I tried this:
object Main extends App {
val l = List("fds")
val xs1: List[String] = l.+:("123") // ok
val xs2: List[String] = l +: "123" // compile-error
}
DEMO
Why is omitting parenthesis causing compile-error? These assignments look the same to me. What is the difference?
It's happening because of right associative methods.
scala> val l = List("abc")
l: List[String] = List(abc)
scala> "efg" +: l
res3: List[String] = List(efg, abc)
Read more here What good are right-associative methods in Scala?
Error case
scala> val l = List(1, 2, 3)
l: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
scala> 4 +: l
res1: List[Int] = List(4, 1, 2, 3)
scala> l +: 1
<console>:13: error: value +: is not a member of Int
l +: 1
^
Because +: is right associative. Method +: is getting invoked on Int instead of list
In order to make it work we can explicitly invoke method on list without the special operator syntax
scala> val l = List(1, 2, 3)
l: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
scala> l.+:(1)
res4: List[Int] = List(1, 1, 2, 3)
Above case works because its normal method invocation.
Related
I thought in scala map(f) is the same as map(_.f) as map(x => x.f), but turns out it is not
scala> val a = List(1,2,3)
val a: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
scala> a.map(toString)
val res7: List[Char] = List(l, i, n)
scala> a.map(_.toString)
val res8: List[String] = List(1, 2, 3)
What happenes when a.map(toString) is called? Where did the three charaacters l, i, and n come from?
map(f) is not the same as map(_.f()). It's the same as map(f(_)). That is, it's going to call f(x), not x.f(), for each x in the list.
So a.map(toString) should be an error because the normal toString method does not take any arguments. My guess is that in your REPL session you've defined your own toString method that takes an argument and that's the one that's being called.
Let's say I have following code:
val xs: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
val ys: List[Int] = List(4, 5, 6)
val zs: List[Int] = xs.appended(ys)
The last line does not compile with an error:
Error:(162, 33) type mismatch; found : List[Int] required: Int val
zs: List[Int] = xs.appended(ys)
If I remove the explicit type declaration, then the code compiles, but the real problem is that
the error message appears in a recursive function where I would like to pass appended list as a parameter of type List[Int], so removing the explicit type is not an option.
According to scaladoc appended method takes only one argument, not an entire list. So the following examples will compile:
xs.appended(ys(0))
for(x <- xs) yield ys appended x
or appendAll:
xs appendAll ys
ys :++ xs
P.S.: Note, that appending to the list is not optimal, as it's time is proportional to the size of the list, prefer prepend instead:
ys ::: xs
According scala documentation appended method accepting just one element, not collection. And zs type after removing explicit types will be List[Any]:
val xs = List(1, 2, 3)
val ys = List(4, 5, 6)
val zs: List[Any] = xs.appended(ys) // List(1, 2, 3, List(4, 5, 6))
it compiles, but result will be List(1, 2, 3, List(4, 5, 6))
You can use method appendedAll to do that you want or just concatenate lists using concat or ++ operator :
val xs = List(1, 2, 3)
val ys = List(4, 5, 6)
val zs: List[Int] = xs ++ ys // List(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
val as: List[Int] = xs.appendedAll(ys) // List(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
val bs: List[Int] = xs.concat(ys) // List(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
1. val xs: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
2. val ys: List[Int] = List(4, 5, 6)
3. val zs: List[Int] = xs.appended(ys)
The third line is a problem until you have the type declaration. Because when you compile your code compiler is not going to infer the type of the variable zs and it will expect the output of xs.appended(ys) to be a List[Int] which is not the case because xs is List[Int] now if you want to add an element in this list you can do xs.append(1) or any other integer but you are trying to insert List[Int] which is not Int.
Now when you remove the type declaration from line 3 it compile successfully because now compiler will infer the type of the variable zs and if you will see on REPL it will say the of this variable zs is List[Any].
Now if you want to add list into a list and get a flatten result you can simply use
val zs: List[Int] = xs ::: ys
If you will see the scala docs here
this is the signature of appended:
final def:+[B >: A](elem: B): List[B]
:+ is Alias for appended
:++ is Alias for appendedAll
As we can see from the signature appended function takes a parameter of type B and return List[B] in your case B is Int and you are trying to add List[Int].
I hope it clears why you are getting the compilation error.
What is the difference between a ::: b and a.:::(b) ?
scala> val a = List(1,2,3,4)
a: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3, 4)
scala> val b = List(5)
b: List[Int] = List(5)
scala> a.:::(b)
res6: List[Int] = List(5, 1, 2, 3, 4)
scala> a ::: b
res7: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
All functions in Scala which end with a : are right-associative and, thus, the expression a ::: b evaluates to b.:::(a).
When you use infix notation, methods (or operators) that end with : are right associative - in other words, the method is called on the object to its right, and the object to its left is passed as an argument.
So 1 :: Nil is the same as Nil.::(1). Just as a ::: b is the same as b.:::(a).
Because when you type
a ::: b
the last ':' makes the function right associative.
Thus, you are calling ::: on b not a:
b.:::(a)
How can I prepend, i.e. cons, to an Iterable?
scala> val xs: Iterable[Int] = Seq(1)
xs: Iterable[Int] = List(1)
scala> xs :: 5
<console>:15: error: value :: is not a member of Int
xs :: 5
^
I looked at the docs, but didn't figure it out.
:: is specific to List. It is a List, in fact.
There is no concept of prepending to an Iterable, as not all Iterables will guarantee order (Set does not, for example). You may want Seq instead, which would use +: to prepend.
Iterable doesn't have a prepend method, but you can use "++" to join two iterables:
scala> val xs: Iterable[Int] = Seq(1)
xs: Iterable[Int] = List(1)
scala> List(5) ++ xs
res0: List[Int] = List(5, 1)
Seq does have a prepend method, +:, and you could convert to a seq:
scala> 5 +: xs.toSeq
res1: Seq[Int] = List(5, 1)
As a Scala beginner I am still struggling working with immutable lists. All I am trying to do append elements to my list. Here's an example of what I am trying to do.
val list = Seq()::Nil
val listOfInts = List(1,2,3)
listOfInts.foreach {case x=>
list::List(x)
}
expecting that I would end up with a list of lists: List(List(1),List(2),List(3))
Coming from java I am used to just using list.add(new ArrayList(i)) to get the same result. Am I way off here?
Since the List is immutable you can not modify the List in place.
To construct a List of 1 item Lists from a List, you can map over the List. The difference between forEach and map is that forEach returns nothing, i.e. Unit, while map returns a List from the returns of some function.
scala> def makeSingleList(j:Int):List[Int] = List(j)
makeSingleList: (j: Int)List[Int]
scala> listOfInts.map(makeSingleList)
res1: List[List[Int]] = List(List(1), List(2), List(3))
Below is copy and pasted from the Scala REPL with added print statement to see what is happening:
scala> val list = Seq()::Nil
list: List[Seq[Nothing]] = List(List())
scala> val listOfInts = List(1,2,3)
listOfInts: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
scala> listOfInts.foreach { case x=>
| println(list::List(x))
| }
List(List(List()), 1)
List(List(List()), 2)
List(List(List()), 3)
During the first iteration of the foreach loop, you are actually taking the first element of listOfInts (which is 1), putting that in a new list (which is List(1)), and then adding the new element list (which is List(List()) ) to the beginning of List(1). This is why it prints out List(List(List()), 1).
Since your list and listOfInts are both immutable, you can't change them. All you can do is perform something on them, and then return a new list with the change. In your case list::List(x) inside the loop actually doesnt do anything you can see unless you print it out.
There are tutorials on the documentation page.
There is a blurb for ListBuffer, if you swing that way.
Otherwise,
scala> var xs = List.empty[List[Int]]
xs: List[List[Int]] = List()
scala> (1 to 10) foreach (i => xs = xs :+ List(i))
scala> xs
res9: List[List[Int]] = List(List(1), List(2), List(3), List(4), List(5), List(6), List(7), List(8), List(9), List(10))
You have a choice of using a mutable builder like ListBuffer or a local var and returning the collection you build.
In the functional world, you often build by prepending and then reverse:
scala> var xs = List.empty[List[Int]]
xs: List[List[Int]] = List()
scala> (1 to 10) foreach (i => xs = List(i) :: xs)
scala> xs.reverse
res11: List[List[Int]] = List(List(1), List(2), List(3), List(4), List(5), List(6), List(7), List(8), List(9), List(10))
Given val listOfInts = List(1,2,3), and you want the final result as List(List(1),List(2),List(3)).
Another nice trick I can think of is sliding(Groups elements in fixed size blocks by passing a "sliding window" over them)
scala> val listOfInts = List(1,2,3)
listOfInts: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
scala> listOfInts.sliding(1)
res6: Iterator[List[Int]] = non-empty iterator
scala> listOfInts.sliding(1).toList
res7: List[List[Int]] = List(List(1), List(2), List(3))
// If pass 2 in sliding, it will be like
scala> listOfInts.sliding(2).toList
res8: List[List[Int]] = List(List(1, 2), List(2, 3))
For more about the sliding, you can have a read about sliding in scala.collection.IterableLike.
You can simply map over this list to create a List of Lists.
It maintains Immutability and functional approach.
scala> List(1,2,3).map(List(_))
res0: List[List[Int]] = List(List(1), List(2), List(3))
Or you, can also use Tail Recursion :
#annotation.tailrec
def f(l:List[Int],res:List[List[Int]]=Nil) :List[List[Int]] = {
if(l.isEmpty) res else f(l.tail,res :+ List(l.head))
}
scala> f(List(1,2,3))
res1: List[List[Int]] = List(List(1), List(2), List(3))
In scala you have two (three, as #som-snytt has shown) options -- opt for a mutable collection (like Buffer):
scala> val xs = collection.mutable.Buffer(1)
// xs: scala.collection.mutable.Buffer[Int] = ArrayBuffer(1)
scala> xs += 2
// res10: xs.type = ArrayBuffer(1, 2)
scala> xs += 3
// res11: xs.type = ArrayBuffer(1, 2, 3)
As you can see, it works just like you would work with lists in Java. The other option you have, and in fact it's highly encouraged, is to opt to processing list functionally, that's it, you take some function and apply it to each and every element of collection:
scala> val ys = List(1,2,3,4).map(x => x + 1)
// ys: List[Int] = List(2, 3, 4, 5)
scala> def isEven(x: Int) = x % 2 == 0
// isEven: (x: Int)Boolean
scala> val zs = List(1,2,3,4).map(x => x * 10).filter(isEven)
// zs: List[Int] = List(10, 20, 30, 40)
// input: List(1,2,3)
// expected output: List(List(1), List(2), List(3))
val myList: List[Int] = List(1,2,3)
val currentResult = List()
def buildIteratively(input: List[Int], currentOutput: List[List[Int]]): List[List[Int]] = input match {
case Nil => currentOutput
case x::xs => buildIteratively(xs, List(x) :: currentOutput)
}
val result = buildIteratively(myList, currentResult).reverse
You say in your question that the list is immutable, so you do are aware that you cannot mutate it ! All operations on Scala lists return a new list. By the way, even in Java using a foreach to populate a collection is considered a bad practice. The Scala idiom for your use-case is :
list ::: listOfInts
Shorter, clearer, more functional, more idiomatic and easier to reason about (mutability make things more "complicated" especially when writing lambda expressions because it breaks the semantic of a pure function). There is no good reason to give you a different answer.
If you want mutability, probably for performance purposes, use a mutable collection such as ArrayBuffer.