I noticed that Scala provide lazy vals. But I don't get what they do.
scala> val x = 15
x: Int = 15
scala> lazy val y = 13
y: Int = <lazy>
scala> x
res0: Int = 15
scala> y
res1: Int = 13
The REPL shows that y is a lazy val, but how is it different from a normal val?
The difference between them is, that a val is executed when it is defined whereas a lazy val is executed when it is accessed the first time.
scala> val x = { println("x"); 15 }
x
x: Int = 15
scala> lazy val y = { println("y"); 13 }
y: Int = <lazy>
scala> x
res2: Int = 15
scala> y
y
res3: Int = 13
scala> y
res4: Int = 13
In contrast to a method (defined with def) a lazy val is executed once and then never again. This can be useful when an operation takes long time to complete and when it is not sure if it is later used.
scala> class X { val x = { Thread.sleep(2000); 15 } }
defined class X
scala> class Y { lazy val y = { Thread.sleep(2000); 13 } }
defined class Y
scala> new X
res5: X = X#262505b7 // we have to wait two seconds to the result
scala> new Y
res6: Y = Y#1555bd22 // this appears immediately
Here, when the values x and y are never used, only x unnecessarily wasting resources. If we suppose that y has no side effects and that we do not know how often it is accessed (never, once, thousands of times) it is useless to declare it as def since we don't want to execute it several times.
If you want to know how lazy vals are implemented, see this question.
This feature helps not only delaying expensive calculations, but is also useful to construct mutual dependent or cyclic structures. E.g. this leads to an stack overflow:
trait Foo { val foo: Foo }
case class Fee extends Foo { val foo = Faa() }
case class Faa extends Foo { val foo = Fee() }
println(Fee().foo)
//StackOverflowException
But with lazy vals it works fine
trait Foo { val foo: Foo }
case class Fee extends Foo { lazy val foo = Faa() }
case class Faa extends Foo { lazy val foo = Fee() }
println(Fee().foo)
//Faa()
I understand that the answer is given but I wrote a simple example to make it easy to understand for beginners like me:
var x = { println("x"); 15 }
lazy val y = { println("y"); x + 1 }
println("-----")
x = 17
println("y is: " + y)
Output of above code is:
x
-----
y
y is: 18
As it can be seen, x is printed when it's initialized, but y is not printed when it's initialized in same way (I have taken x as var intentionally here - to explain when y gets initialized). Next when y is called, it's initialized as well as value of last 'x' is taken into consideration but not the old one.
Hope this helps.
A lazy val is most easily understood as a "memoized (no-arg) def".
Like a def, a lazy val is not evaluated until it is invoked. But the result is saved so that subsequent invocations return the saved value. The memoized result takes up space in your data structure, like a val.
As others have mentioned, the use cases for a lazy val are to defer expensive computations until they are needed and store their results, and to solve certain circular dependencies between values.
Lazy vals are in fact implemented more or less as memoized defs. You can read about the details of their implementation here:
http://docs.scala-lang.org/sips/pending/improved-lazy-val-initialization.html
Also lazy is useful without cyclic dependencies, as in the following code:
abstract class X {
val x: String
println ("x is "+x.length)
}
object Y extends X { val x = "Hello" }
Y
Accessing Y will now throw null pointer exception, because x is not yet initialized.
The following, however, works fine:
abstract class X {
val x: String
println ("x is "+x.length)
}
object Y extends X { lazy val x = "Hello" }
Y
EDIT: the following will also work:
object Y extends { val x = "Hello" } with X
This is called an "early initializer". See this SO question for more details.
A demonstration of lazy - as defined above - execution when defined vs execution when accessed: (using 2.12.7 scala shell)
// compiler says this is ok when it is lazy
scala> lazy val t: Int = t
t: Int = <lazy>
//however when executed, t recursively calls itself, and causes a StackOverflowError
scala> t
java.lang.StackOverflowError
...
// when the t is initialized to itself un-lazily, the compiler warns you of the recursive call
scala> val t: Int = t
<console>:12: warning: value t does nothing other than call itself recursively
val t: Int = t
scala> lazy val lazyEight = {
| println("I am lazy !")
| 8
| }
lazyEight: Int = <lazy>
scala> lazyEight
I am lazy !
res1: Int = 8
All vals are initialized during object construction
Use lazy keyword to defer initialization until first usage
Attention: Lazy vals are not final and therefore might show performance drawbacks
Google didn't help me with this question, I hope that doesn't mean it is not possible:
In my class I want to have a method that has a signature defined, but the body is not defined (method1)
There will be many defined methods that satisfy this signature (impl1, impl2, impl3)
When I initialise the object, I will then choose (based on some criteria) which method implementation impl1, impl2, impl3 to assign to the function pointer method1
Basically I'm asking how I can have a function pointer that can point to any function satisfying its signature.
EDIT:
So, it turns out it is actually very straight forward:
var method: Int => Int = (x => x+1)
method = (x => x-1)
method = (x => x*2)
etc...
My problem before was that I was using "val" or "def" to define "method"
Not sure why this wasn't suggested directly. Many people favoured the way of having the function as a parameter to some secondary class then initialise that class with a specific implementation. Maybe there is something that I'm missing.
EDIT 2: I realise now that I didn't get the answer I was looking for because I didn't word my question properly, I should have said that I wanted "delegate" behaviour as it is in C#.
In Scala, functions are objects, so you can do:
class Foo(val func : Int => Int){
}
object Main{
def main(args: Array[String]) {
val foo1=new Foo(x => x + 1)
val foo2=new Foo(x => x + 2)
val foo3=new Foo(x => x + 3)
println(foo1.func(10)) // Prints 11
println(foo2.func(10)) // Prints 12
println(foo3.func(10)) // Prints 13
}
}
And here is not-so-elegant approach with inheritance:
abstract class Foo() {
def say(): String
protected def bark = "Woof!"
protected def quack = "Quack!"
}
val dog = new Foo() {
def say() = bark
}
dog.say
// res2: String = Woof!
You mean like so:
class Whatever(selector: Int) {
type Signature = Int => String
private val implUsed = selector match {
case 1 => impl1
case _ => impl2
}
private val impl1: Signature = (i: Int) => i.toString
private val impl2: Signature = (i: Int) => i.toString + "_suffix"
def method: Signature = implUsed
}
You could obviously also write the impls as defs. Maybe a different approach based on inheritance may be preferrable though -- you may want to clarify what you are trying to achieve. While this approach is a literal solution to your request, it would be much more idiomatic to pass around the functions itself, like #Idan Arye suggested.
I would not use a method at all in this case. Just have a field that can be initialized to the specific function you want. Something like:
class Foo(val method1: Int => Int)
val doubler = new Foo(2*)
val incrementer = new Foo(1+)
val absolute = new Foo(_.abs)
val parity = new Foo(_ % 2)
val doesNothing = new Foo(identity)
doubler.method1(-3) // => -6
incrementer.method1(-3) // => -2
absolute.method1(-3) // => 3
parity.method1(-3) // => -1
doesNothing.method1(-3) // => -3
I noticed that Scala provide lazy vals. But I don't get what they do.
scala> val x = 15
x: Int = 15
scala> lazy val y = 13
y: Int = <lazy>
scala> x
res0: Int = 15
scala> y
res1: Int = 13
The REPL shows that y is a lazy val, but how is it different from a normal val?
The difference between them is, that a val is executed when it is defined whereas a lazy val is executed when it is accessed the first time.
scala> val x = { println("x"); 15 }
x
x: Int = 15
scala> lazy val y = { println("y"); 13 }
y: Int = <lazy>
scala> x
res2: Int = 15
scala> y
y
res3: Int = 13
scala> y
res4: Int = 13
In contrast to a method (defined with def) a lazy val is executed once and then never again. This can be useful when an operation takes long time to complete and when it is not sure if it is later used.
scala> class X { val x = { Thread.sleep(2000); 15 } }
defined class X
scala> class Y { lazy val y = { Thread.sleep(2000); 13 } }
defined class Y
scala> new X
res5: X = X#262505b7 // we have to wait two seconds to the result
scala> new Y
res6: Y = Y#1555bd22 // this appears immediately
Here, when the values x and y are never used, only x unnecessarily wasting resources. If we suppose that y has no side effects and that we do not know how often it is accessed (never, once, thousands of times) it is useless to declare it as def since we don't want to execute it several times.
If you want to know how lazy vals are implemented, see this question.
This feature helps not only delaying expensive calculations, but is also useful to construct mutual dependent or cyclic structures. E.g. this leads to an stack overflow:
trait Foo { val foo: Foo }
case class Fee extends Foo { val foo = Faa() }
case class Faa extends Foo { val foo = Fee() }
println(Fee().foo)
//StackOverflowException
But with lazy vals it works fine
trait Foo { val foo: Foo }
case class Fee extends Foo { lazy val foo = Faa() }
case class Faa extends Foo { lazy val foo = Fee() }
println(Fee().foo)
//Faa()
I understand that the answer is given but I wrote a simple example to make it easy to understand for beginners like me:
var x = { println("x"); 15 }
lazy val y = { println("y"); x + 1 }
println("-----")
x = 17
println("y is: " + y)
Output of above code is:
x
-----
y
y is: 18
As it can be seen, x is printed when it's initialized, but y is not printed when it's initialized in same way (I have taken x as var intentionally here - to explain when y gets initialized). Next when y is called, it's initialized as well as value of last 'x' is taken into consideration but not the old one.
Hope this helps.
A lazy val is most easily understood as a "memoized (no-arg) def".
Like a def, a lazy val is not evaluated until it is invoked. But the result is saved so that subsequent invocations return the saved value. The memoized result takes up space in your data structure, like a val.
As others have mentioned, the use cases for a lazy val are to defer expensive computations until they are needed and store their results, and to solve certain circular dependencies between values.
Lazy vals are in fact implemented more or less as memoized defs. You can read about the details of their implementation here:
http://docs.scala-lang.org/sips/pending/improved-lazy-val-initialization.html
Also lazy is useful without cyclic dependencies, as in the following code:
abstract class X {
val x: String
println ("x is "+x.length)
}
object Y extends X { val x = "Hello" }
Y
Accessing Y will now throw null pointer exception, because x is not yet initialized.
The following, however, works fine:
abstract class X {
val x: String
println ("x is "+x.length)
}
object Y extends X { lazy val x = "Hello" }
Y
EDIT: the following will also work:
object Y extends { val x = "Hello" } with X
This is called an "early initializer". See this SO question for more details.
A demonstration of lazy - as defined above - execution when defined vs execution when accessed: (using 2.12.7 scala shell)
// compiler says this is ok when it is lazy
scala> lazy val t: Int = t
t: Int = <lazy>
//however when executed, t recursively calls itself, and causes a StackOverflowError
scala> t
java.lang.StackOverflowError
...
// when the t is initialized to itself un-lazily, the compiler warns you of the recursive call
scala> val t: Int = t
<console>:12: warning: value t does nothing other than call itself recursively
val t: Int = t
scala> lazy val lazyEight = {
| println("I am lazy !")
| 8
| }
lazyEight: Int = <lazy>
scala> lazyEight
I am lazy !
res1: Int = 8
All vals are initialized during object construction
Use lazy keyword to defer initialization until first usage
Attention: Lazy vals are not final and therefore might show performance drawbacks
How do you provide overloaded constructors in Scala?
It's worth explicitly mentioning that Auxiliary Constructors in Scala must either call the primary constructor (as in landon9720's) answer, or another auxiliary constructor from the same class, as their first action. They cannot simply call the superclass's constructor explicitly or implicitly as they can in Java. This ensures that the primary constructor is the sole point of entry to the class.
class Foo(x: Int, y: Int, z: String) {
// default y parameter to 0
def this(x: Int, z: String) = this(x, 0, z)
// default x & y parameters to 0
// calls previous auxiliary constructor which calls the primary constructor
def this(z: String) = this(0, z);
}
class Foo(x: Int, y: Int) {
def this(x: Int) = this(x, 0) // default y parameter to 0
}
As of Scala 2.8.0 you can also have default values for contructor- and method parameters. Like this
scala> class Foo(x:Int, y:Int = 0, z:Int=0) {
| override def toString() = { "Foo(" + x + ", " + y + ", " + z + ")" }
| }
defined class Foo
scala> new Foo(1, 2, 3)
res0: Foo = Foo(1, 2, 3)
scala> new Foo(4)
res1: Foo = Foo(4, 0, 0)
Parameters with default values must come after the ones with no default values in the parameter list.
While looking at my code, I suddenly realized that I did kind of an overload a constructor. I then remembered that question and came back to give another answer:
In Scala, you can’t overload constructors, but you can do this with functions.
Also, many choose to make the apply function of a companion object a factory for the respective class.
Making this class abstract and overloading the apply function to implement-instantiate this class, you have your overloaded “constructor”:
abstract class Expectation[T] extends BooleanStatement {
val expected: Seq[T]
…
}
object Expectation {
def apply[T](expd: T ): Expectation[T] = new Expectation[T] {val expected = List(expd)}
def apply[T](expd: Seq[T]): Expectation[T] = new Expectation[T] {val expected = expd }
def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
val expectTrueness = Expectation(true)
…
}
}
Note that I explicitly define each apply to return Expectation[T], else it would return a duck-typed Expectation[T]{val expected: List[T]}.
Try this
class A(x: Int, y: Int) {
def this(x: Int) = this(x, x)
def this() = this(1)
override def toString() = "x=" + x + " y=" + y
class B(a: Int, b: Int, c: String) {
def this(str: String) = this(x, y, str)
override def toString() =
"x=" + x + " y=" + y + " a=" + a + " b=" + b + " c=" + c
}
}
Locked. This question and its answers are locked because the question is off-topic but has historical significance. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.
What are the hidden features of Scala that every Scala developer should be aware of?
One hidden feature per answer, please.
Okay, I had to add one more. Every Regex object in Scala has an extractor (see answer from oxbox_lakes above) that gives you access to the match groups. So you can do something like:
// Regex to split a date in the format Y/M/D.
val regex = "(\\d+)/(\\d+)/(\\d+)".r
val regex(year, month, day) = "2010/1/13"
The second line looks confusing if you're not used to using pattern matching and extractors. Whenever you define a val or var, what comes after the keyword is not simply an identifier but rather a pattern. That's why this works:
val (a, b, c) = (1, 3.14159, "Hello, world")
The right hand expression creates a Tuple3[Int, Double, String] which can match the pattern (a, b, c).
Most of the time your patterns use extractors that are members of singleton objects. For example, if you write a pattern like
Some(value)
then you're implicitly calling the extractor Some.unapply.
But you can also use class instances in patterns, and that is what's happening here. The val regex is an instance of Regex, and when you use it in a pattern, you're implicitly calling regex.unapplySeq (unapply versus unapplySeq is beyond the scope of this answer), which extracts the match groups into a Seq[String], the elements of which are assigned in order to the variables year, month, and day.
Structural type definitions - i.e. a type described by what methods it supports. For example:
object Closer {
def using(closeable: { def close(): Unit }, f: => Unit) {
try {
f
} finally { closeable.close }
}
}
Notice that the type of the parameter closeable is not defined other than it has a close method
Type-Constructor Polymorphism (a.k.a. higher-kinded types)
Without this feature you can, for example, express the idea of mapping a function over a list to return another list, or mapping a function over a tree to return another tree. But you can't express this idea generally without higher kinds.
With higher kinds, you can capture the idea of any type that's parameterised with another type. A type constructor that takes one parameter is said to be of kind (*->*). For example, List. A type constructor that returns another type constructor is said to be of kind (*->*->*). For example, Function1. But in Scala, we have higher kinds, so we can have type constructors that are parameterised with other type constructors. So they're of kinds like ((*->*)->*).
For example:
trait Functor[F[_]] {
def fmap[A, B](f: A => B, fa: F[A]): F[B]
}
Now, if you have a Functor[List], you can map over lists. If you have a Functor[Tree], you can map over trees. But more importantly, if you have Functor[A] for any A of kind (*->*), you can map a function over A.
Extractors which allow you to replace messy if-elseif-else style code with patterns. I know that these are not exactly hidden but I've been using Scala for a few months without really understanding the power of them. For (a long) example I can replace:
val code: String = ...
val ps: ProductService = ...
var p: Product = null
if (code.endsWith("=")) {
p = ps.findCash(code.substring(0, 3)) //e.g. USD=, GBP= etc
}
else if (code.endsWith(".FWD")) {
//e.g. GBP20090625.FWD
p = ps.findForward(code.substring(0,3), code.substring(3, 9))
}
else {
p = ps.lookupProductByRic(code)
}
With this, which is much clearer in my opinion
implicit val ps: ProductService = ...
val p = code match {
case SyntheticCodes.Cash(c) => c
case SyntheticCodes.Forward(f) => f
case _ => ps.lookupProductByRic(code)
}
I have to do a bit of legwork in the background...
object SyntheticCodes {
// Synthetic Code for a CashProduct
object Cash extends (CashProduct => String) {
def apply(p: CashProduct) = p.currency.name + "="
//EXTRACTOR
def unapply(s: String)(implicit ps: ProductService): Option[CashProduct] = {
if (s.endsWith("=")
Some(ps.findCash(s.substring(0,3)))
else None
}
}
//Synthetic Code for a ForwardProduct
object Forward extends (ForwardProduct => String) {
def apply(p: ForwardProduct) = p.currency.name + p.date.toString + ".FWD"
//EXTRACTOR
def unapply(s: String)(implicit ps: ProductService): Option[ForwardProduct] = {
if (s.endsWith(".FWD")
Some(ps.findForward(s.substring(0,3), s.substring(3, 9))
else None
}
}
But the legwork is worth it for the fact that it separates a piece of business logic into a sensible place. I can implement my Product.getCode methods as follows..
class CashProduct {
def getCode = SyntheticCodes.Cash(this)
}
class ForwardProduct {
def getCode = SyntheticCodes.Forward(this)
}
Manifests which are a sort of way at getting the type information at runtime, as if Scala had reified types.
In scala 2.8 you can have tail-recursive methods by using the package scala.util.control.TailCalls (in fact it's trampolining).
An example:
def u(n:Int):TailRec[Int] = {
if (n==0) done(1)
else tailcall(v(n/2))
}
def v(n:Int):TailRec[Int] = {
if (n==0) done(5)
else tailcall(u(n-1))
}
val l=for(n<-0 to 5) yield (n,u(n).result,v(n).result)
println(l)
Case classes automatically mixin the Product trait, providing untyped, indexed access to the fields without any reflection:
case class Person(name: String, age: Int)
val p = Person("Aaron", 28)
val name = p.productElement(0) // name = "Aaron": Any
val age = p.productElement(1) // age = 28: Any
val fields = p.productIterator.toList // fields = List[Any]("Aaron", 28)
This feature also provides a simplified way to alter the output of the toString method:
case class Person(name: String, age: Int) {
override def productPrefix = "person: "
}
// prints "person: (Aaron,28)" instead of "Person(Aaron, 28)"
println(Person("Aaron", 28))
It's not exactly hidden, but certainly a under advertised feature: scalac -Xprint.
As a illustration of the use consider the following source:
class A { "xx".r }
Compiling this with scalac -Xprint:typer outputs:
package <empty> {
class A extends java.lang.Object with ScalaObject {
def this(): A = {
A.super.this();
()
};
scala.this.Predef.augmentString("xx").r
}
}
Notice scala.this.Predef.augmentString("xx").r, which is a the application of the implicit def augmentString present in Predef.scala.
scalac -Xprint:<phase> will print the syntax tree after some compiler phase. To see the available phases use scalac -Xshow-phases.
This is a great way to learn what is going on behind the scenes.
Try with
case class X(a:Int,b:String)
using the typer phase to really feel how useful it is.
You can define your own control structures. It's really just functions and objects and some syntactic sugar, but they look and behave like the real thing.
For example, the following code defines dont {...} unless (cond) and dont {...} until (cond):
def dont(code: => Unit) = new DontCommand(code)
class DontCommand(code: => Unit) {
def unless(condition: => Boolean) =
if (condition) code
def until(condition: => Boolean) = {
while (!condition) {}
code
}
}
Now you can do the following:
/* This will only get executed if the condition is true */
dont {
println("Yep, 2 really is greater than 1.")
} unless (2 > 1)
/* Just a helper function */
var number = 0;
def nextNumber() = {
number += 1
println(number)
number
}
/* This will not be printed until the condition is met. */
dont {
println("Done counting to 5!")
} until (nextNumber() == 5)
#switch annotation in Scala 2.8:
An annotation to be applied to a match
expression. If present, the compiler
will verify that the match has been
compiled to a tableswitch or
lookupswitch, and issue an error if it
instead compiles into a series of
conditional expressions.
Example:
scala> val n = 3
n: Int = 3
scala> import annotation.switch
import annotation.switch
scala> val s = (n: #switch) match {
| case 3 => "Three"
| case _ => "NoThree"
| }
<console>:6: error: could not emit switch for #switch annotated match
val s = (n: #switch) match {
Dunno if this is really hidden, but I find it quite nice.
Typeconstructors that take 2 type parameters can be written in infix notation
object Main {
class FooBar[A, B]
def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
var x: FooBar[Int, BigInt] = null
var y: Int FooBar BigInt = null
}
}
Scala 2.8 introduced default and named arguments, which made possible the addition of a new "copy" method that Scala adds to case classes. If you define this:
case class Foo(a: Int, b: Int, c: Int, ... z:Int)
and you want to create a new Foo that's like an existing Foo, only with a different "n" value, then you can just say:
foo.copy(n = 3)
in scala 2.8 you can add #specialized to your generic classes/methods. This will create special versions of the class for primitive types (extending AnyVal) and save the cost of un-necessary boxing/unboxing :
class Foo[#specialized T]...
You can select a subset of AnyVals :
class Foo[#specialized(Int,Boolean) T]...
Extending the language. I always wanted to do something like this in Java (couldn't). But in Scala I can have:
def timed[T](thunk: => T) = {
val t1 = System.nanoTime
val ret = thunk
val time = System.nanoTime - t1
println("Executed in: " + time/1000000.0 + " millisec")
ret
}
and then write:
val numbers = List(12, 42, 3, 11, 6, 3, 77, 44)
val sorted = timed { // "timed" is a new "keyword"!
numbers.sortWith(_<_)
}
println(sorted)
and get
Executed in: 6.410311 millisec
List(3, 3, 6, 11, 12, 42, 44, 77)
You can designate a call-by-name parameter (EDITED: this is different then a lazy parameter!) to a function and it will not be evaluated until used by the function (EDIT: in fact, it will be reevaluated every time it is used). See this faq for details
class Bar(i:Int) {
println("constructing bar " + i)
override def toString():String = {
"bar with value: " + i
}
}
// NOTE the => in the method declaration. It indicates a lazy paramter
def foo(x: => Bar) = {
println("foo called")
println("bar: " + x)
}
foo(new Bar(22))
/*
prints the following:
foo called
constructing bar 22
bar with value: 22
*/
You can use locally to introduce a local block without causing semicolon inference issues.
Usage:
scala> case class Dog(name: String) {
| def bark() {
| println("Bow Vow")
| }
| }
defined class Dog
scala> val d = Dog("Barnie")
d: Dog = Dog(Barnie)
scala> locally {
| import d._
| bark()
| bark()
| }
Bow Vow
Bow Vow
locally is defined in "Predef.scala" as:
#inline def locally[T](x: T): T = x
Being inline, it does not impose any additional overhead.
Early Initialization:
trait AbstractT2 {
println("In AbstractT2:")
val value: Int
val inverse = 1.0/value
println("AbstractT2: value = "+value+", inverse = "+inverse)
}
val c2c = new {
// Only initializations are allowed in pre-init. blocks.
// println("In c2c:")
val value = 10
} with AbstractT2
println("c2c.value = "+c2c.value+", inverse = "+c2c.inverse)
Output:
In AbstractT2:
AbstractT2: value = 10, inverse = 0.1
c2c.value = 10, inverse = 0.1
We instantiate an anonymous inner
class, initializing the value field
in the block, before the with
AbstractT2 clause. This guarantees
that value is initialized before the
body of AbstractT2 is executed, as
shown when you run the script.
You can compose structural types with the 'with' keyword
object Main {
type A = {def foo: Unit}
type B = {def bar: Unit}
type C = A with B
class myA {
def foo: Unit = println("myA.foo")
}
class myB {
def bar: Unit = println("myB.bar")
}
class myC extends myB {
def foo: Unit = println("myC.foo")
}
def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
val a: A = new myA
a.foo
val b: C = new myC
b.bar
b.foo
}
}
placeholder syntax for anonymous functions
From The Scala Language Specification:
SimpleExpr1 ::= '_'
An expression (of syntactic category Expr) may contain embedded underscore symbols _ at places where identifiers are legal. Such an expression represents an anonymous function where subsequent occurrences of underscores denote successive parameters.
From Scala Language Changes:
_ + 1 x => x + 1
_ * _ (x1, x2) => x1 * x2
(_: Int) * 2 (x: Int) => x * 2
if (_) x else y z => if (z) x else y
_.map(f) x => x.map(f)
_.map(_ + 1) x => x.map(y => y + 1)
Using this you could do something like:
def filesEnding(query: String) =
filesMatching(_.endsWith(query))
Implicit definitions, particularly conversions.
For example, assume a function which will format an input string to fit to a size, by replacing the middle of it with "...":
def sizeBoundedString(s: String, n: Int): String = {
if (n < 5 && n < s.length) throw new IllegalArgumentException
if (s.length > n) {
val trailLength = ((n - 3) / 2) min 3
val headLength = n - 3 - trailLength
s.substring(0, headLength)+"..."+s.substring(s.length - trailLength, s.length)
} else s
}
You can use that with any String, and, of course, use the toString method to convert anything. But you could also write it like this:
def sizeBoundedString[T](s: T, n: Int)(implicit toStr: T => String): String = {
if (n < 5 && n < s.length) throw new IllegalArgumentException
if (s.length > n) {
val trailLength = ((n - 3) / 2) min 3
val headLength = n - 3 - trailLength
s.substring(0, headLength)+"..."+s.substring(s.length - trailLength, s.length)
} else s
}
And then, you could pass classes of other types by doing this:
implicit def double2String(d: Double) = d.toString
Now you can call that function passing a double:
sizeBoundedString(12345.12345D, 8)
The last argument is implicit, and is being passed automatically because of the implicit de declaration. Furthermore, "s" is being treated like a String inside sizeBoundedString because there is an implicit conversion from it to String.
Implicits of this type are better defined for uncommon types to avoid unexpected conversions. You can also explictly pass a conversion, and it will still be implicitly used inside sizeBoundedString:
sizeBoundedString(1234567890L, 8)((l : Long) => l.toString)
You can also have multiple implicit arguments, but then you must either pass all of them, or not pass any of them. There is also a shortcut syntax for implicit conversions:
def sizeBoundedString[T <% String](s: T, n: Int): String = {
if (n < 5 && n < s.length) throw new IllegalArgumentException
if (s.length > n) {
val trailLength = ((n - 3) / 2) min 3
val headLength = n - 3 - trailLength
s.substring(0, headLength)+"..."+s.substring(s.length - trailLength, s.length)
} else s
}
This is used exactly the same way.
Implicits can have any value. They can be used, for instance, to hide library information. Take the following example, for instance:
case class Daemon(name: String) {
def log(msg: String) = println(name+": "+msg)
}
object DefaultDaemon extends Daemon("Default")
trait Logger {
private var logd: Option[Daemon] = None
implicit def daemon: Daemon = logd getOrElse DefaultDaemon
def logTo(daemon: Daemon) =
if (logd == None) logd = Some(daemon)
else throw new IllegalArgumentException
def log(msg: String)(implicit daemon: Daemon) = daemon.log(msg)
}
class X extends Logger {
logTo(Daemon("X Daemon"))
def f = {
log("f called")
println("Stuff")
}
def g = {
log("g called")(DefaultDaemon)
}
}
class Y extends Logger {
def f = {
log("f called")
println("Stuff")
}
}
In this example, calling "f" in an Y object will send the log to the default daemon, and on an instance of X to the Daemon X daemon. But calling g on an instance of X will send the log to the explicitly given DefaultDaemon.
While this simple example can be re-written with overload and private state, implicits do not require private state, and can be brought into context with imports.
Maybe not too hidden, but I think this is useful:
#scala.reflect.BeanProperty
var firstName:String = _
This will automatically generate a getter and setter for the field that matches bean convention.
Further description at developerworks
Implicit arguments in closures.
A function argument can be marked as implicit just as with methods. Within the scope of the body of the function the implicit parameter is visible and eligible for implicit resolution:
trait Foo { def bar }
trait Base {
def callBar(implicit foo: Foo) = foo.bar
}
object Test extends Base {
val f: Foo => Unit = { implicit foo =>
callBar
}
def test = f(new Foo {
def bar = println("Hello")
})
}
Build infinite data structures with Scala's Streams :
http://www.codecommit.com/blog/scala/infinite-lists-for-the-finitely-patient
Result types are dependent on implicit resolution. This can give you a form of multiple dispatch:
scala> trait PerformFunc[A,B] { def perform(a : A) : B }
defined trait PerformFunc
scala> implicit val stringToInt = new PerformFunc[String,Int] {
def perform(a : String) = 5
}
stringToInt: java.lang.Object with PerformFunc[String,Int] = $anon$1#13ccf137
scala> implicit val intToDouble = new PerformFunc[Int,Double] {
def perform(a : Int) = 1.0
}
intToDouble: java.lang.Object with PerformFunc[Int,Double] = $anon$1#74e551a4
scala> def foo[A, B](x : A)(implicit z : PerformFunc[A,B]) : B = z.perform(x)
foo: [A,B](x: A)(implicit z: PerformFunc[A,B])B
scala> foo("HAI")
res16: Int = 5
scala> foo(1)
res17: Double = 1.0
Scala's equivalent of Java double brace initializer.
Scala allows you to create an anonymous subclass with the body of the class (the constructor) containing statements to initialize the instance of that class.
This pattern is very useful when building component-based user interfaces (for example Swing , Vaadin) as it allows to create UI components and declare their properties more concisely.
See http://spot.colorado.edu/~reids/papers/how-scala-experience-improved-our-java-development-reid-2011.pdf for more information.
Here is an example of creating a Vaadin button:
val button = new Button("Click me"){
setWidth("20px")
setDescription("Click on this")
setIcon(new ThemeResource("icons/ok.png"))
}
Excluding members from import statements
Suppose you want to use a Logger that contains a println and a printerr method, but you only want to use the one for error messages, and keep the good old Predef.println for standard output. You could do this:
val logger = new Logger(...)
import logger.printerr
but if logger also contains another twelve methods that you would like to import and use, it becomes inconvenient to list them. You could instead try:
import logger.{println => donotuseprintlnt, _}
but this still "pollutes" the list of imported members. Enter the über-powerful wildcard:
import logger.{println => _, _}
and that will do just the right thing™.
require method (defined in Predef) that allow you to define additional function constraints that would be checked during run-time. Imagine that you developing yet another twitter client and you need to limit tweet length up to 140 symbols. Moreover you can't post empty tweet.
def post(tweet: String) = {
require(tweet.length < 140 && tweet.length > 0)
println(tweet)
}
Now calling post with inappropriate length argument will cause an exception:
scala> post("that's ok")
that's ok
scala> post("")
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: requirement failed
at scala.Predef$.require(Predef.scala:145)
at .post(<console>:8)
scala> post("way to looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong tweet")
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: requirement failed
at scala.Predef$.require(Predef.scala:145)
at .post(<console>:8)
You can write multiple requirements or even add description to each:
def post(tweet: String) = {
require(tweet.length > 0, "too short message")
require(tweet.length < 140, "too long message")
println(tweet)
}
Now exceptions are verbose:
scala> post("")
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: requirement failed: too short message
at scala.Predef$.require(Predef.scala:157)
at .post(<console>:8)
One more example is here.
Bonus
You can perform an action every time requirement fails:
scala> var errorcount = 0
errorcount: Int = 0
def post(tweet: String) = {
require(tweet.length > 0, {errorcount+=1})
println(tweet)
}
scala> errorcount
res14: Int = 0
scala> post("")
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: requirement failed: ()
at scala.Predef$.require(Predef.scala:157)
at .post(<console>:9)
...
scala> errorcount
res16: Int = 1
Traits with abstract override methods are a feature in Scala that is as not widely advertised as many others. The intend of methods with the abstract override modifier is to do some operations and delegating the call to super. Then these traits have to be mixed-in with concrete implementations of their abstract override methods.
trait A {
def a(s : String) : String
}
trait TimingA extends A {
abstract override def a(s : String) = {
val start = System.currentTimeMillis
val result = super.a(s)
val dur = System.currentTimeMillis-start
println("Executed a in %s ms".format(dur))
result
}
}
trait ParameterPrintingA extends A {
abstract override def a(s : String) = {
println("Called a with s=%s".format(s))
super.a(s)
}
}
trait ImplementingA extends A {
def a(s: String) = s.reverse
}
scala> val a = new ImplementingA with TimingA with ParameterPrintingA
scala> a.a("a lotta as")
Called a with s=a lotta as
Executed a in 0 ms
res4: String = sa attol a
While my example is really not much more than a poor mans AOP, I used these Stackable Traits much to my liking to build Scala interpreter instances with predefined imports, custom bindings and classpathes. The Stackable Traits made it possible to create my factory along the lines of new InterpreterFactory with JsonLibs with LuceneLibs and then have useful imports and scope varibles for the users scripts.