I trying to write a simple tic tac toe game in Racket and am having trouble figuring out how to set a value in a sequence.
I have the follow 2d sequence of characters:
(define playing-board '((#\- #\- #\-)
(#\- #\- #\-)
(#\- #\- #\-)))
Here's what I'm trying to do:
(let ([row (sequence-ref playing-board y)])
(sequence-set? row x #\O)
)
Now that think about it, even if that did work, it would only alter row and playing-board.
Lists cannot be mutated like that in Racket, so you have to choose a data structure that can be mutated such as a vector. For example:
Welcome to Racket v6.4.0.15.
-> (define playing-board (vector (vector #\- #\- #\-)
(vector #\- #\- #\-)
(vector #\- #\- #\-)))
-> (define x 0)
-> (define y 1)
-> (let ([row (vector-ref playing-board y)])
(vector-set! row x #\O))
-> playing-board
'#(#(#\- #\- #\-) #(#\O #\- #\-) #(#\- #\- #\-))
Alternatively, you can instead return a new list instead of trying to mutate it in place.
Asumu's answer is of course entirely correct.
For this problem, though, I think I might be inclined to use an immutable
hash from lists of numbers to cell values. This gives you a handy functional
update and probably matches your intuition better as well:
#lang racket
(define my-board
(for/hash ([row (in-range 3)]
[col (in-range 3)])
(values (list row col) #\-)))
(hash-ref my-board (list 1 1)) ;; -> #\-
(define updated-board (hash-set my-board (list 1 1) #\X))
(hash-ref updated-board (list 1 1)) ;; -> #\X
Related
I am trying to concatenate all elements in the list argument into a single list.
I have this code:
(define (concatenate . lsts)
(let rec ([l lsts]
[acc '()])
(if (empty? l)
acc
(rec (cons (list* l)
acc)))))
An example of output is here:
> (concatenate '(1 2 3) '(hi bye) '(4 5 6))
'(1 2 3 hi bye 4 5 6)
But I keep getting this error:
rec: arity mismatch;
the expected number of arguments does not match the given number
expected: 2
given: 1
Can someone please explain this?
Another answer explains the OP error,
and shows how the code can be fixed using append.
But there could be reasons for append to be disallowed in this assignment
(of course, it could be replaced with, for example, an inner "named let" iteration).
This answer will present an alternative approach and describe how it can be derived.
#lang racket
(require test-engine/racket-tests)
(define (conc . lols) ;; ("List of Lists" -> List)
;; produce (in order) the elements of the list elements of lols as one list
;; example: (conc '(1 2 3) '(hi bye) '(4 5 6)) => '(1 2 3 hi bye 4 5 6)
(cond
[(andmap null? lols) empty ] ;(1) => empty result
[else
(cons (if (null? (car lols)) ;(2) => head of result
(car (apply conc (cdr lols)))
(caar lols))
(apply conc ;(3) => tail of result
(cond
[(null? (car lols))
(list (cdr (apply conc (cdr lols)))) ]
[(null? (cdar lols))
(cdr lols) ]
[else
(cons (cdar lols) (cdr lols)) ]))) ]))
(check-expect (conc '() ) '())
(check-expect (conc '() '() ) '())
(check-expect (conc '(1) ) '(1))
(check-expect (conc '() '(1) ) '(1))
(check-expect (conc '() '(1 2) ) '(1 2))
(check-expect (conc '(1) '() ) '(1))
(check-expect (conc '(1) '(2) ) '(1 2))
(check-expect (conc '(1 2) '(3 4) ) '(1 2 3 4))
(check-expect (conc '(1 2 3) '(hi bye) '(4 5 6)) '(1 2 3 hi bye 4 5 6))
(test)
Welcome to DrRacket, version 8.6 [cs].
Language: racket, with debugging; memory limit: 128 MB.
All 8 tests passed!
>
How was this code derived?
"The observation that program structure follows data structure is a key lesson in
introductory programming" [1]
A systematic program design method can be used to derive function code from the structure
of arguments. For a List argument, a simple template (natural recursion) is often appropriate:
(define (fn lox) ;; (Listof X) -> Y ; *template*
;; produce a Y from lox using natural recursion ;
(cond ;
[(empty? lox) ... ] #|base case|# ;; Y ;
[else (... #|something|# ;; X Y -> Y ;
(first lox) (fn (rest lox))) ])) ;
(Here the ...s are placeholders to be replaced by code to create a particular list-argumented
function; eg with 0 and + the result is (sum list-of-numbers), with empty and cons it's
list-copy; many list functions follow this pattern. Racket's "Student Languages" support
placeholders.)
Gibbons [1] points out that corecursion, a design recipe based on result structure, can also
be helpful, and says:
For a structurally corecursive program towards lists, there are three questions to ask:
When is the output empty?
If the output isn’t empty, what is its head?
And from what data is its tail recursively constructed?
So for simple corecursion producing a List result, a template could be:
(define (fn x) ;; X -> ListOfY
;; produce list of y from x using natural corecursion
(cond
[... empty] ;(1) ... => empty
[else (cons ... ;(2) ... => head
(fn ...)) ])) ;(3) ... => tail data
Examples are useful to work out what should replace the placeholders:
the design recipe for structural recursion calls for examples that cover all possible input variants,
examples for co-programs should cover all possible output variants.
The check-expect examples above can be worked through to derive (1), (2), and (3).
[1] Gibbons 2021 How to design co-programs
Assuming you are allowed to call append, for simplicity. You have
(define (concatenate . lsts)
(let rec ([l lsts]
[acc '()])
(if (empty? l)
acc
(rec (cons (list* l) ; only ONE
acc) ; argument
))))
calling rec with only one argument. I have added a newline there so it becomes more self-evident.
But your definition says it needs two. One way to fix this is
(define (conc . lsts)
(let rec ([ls lsts]
[acc '()])
(if (empty? ls)
acc
(rec (cdr ls) ; first argument
(append acc (car ls)) ; second argument
))))
Now e.g.
(conc (list 1 2) (list 3 4))
; => '(1 2 3 4)
I used append. Calling list* doesn't seem to do anything useful here, to me.
(edit:)
Using append that way was done for simplicity. Repeatedly appending on the right is actually an anti-pattern, because it leads to quadratic code (referring to its time complexity).
Appending on the left with consequent reversing of the final result is the usual remedy applied to that problem, to get the linear behavior back:
(define (conc2 . lsts)
(let rec ([ls lsts]
[acc '()])
(if (empty? ls)
(reverse acc)
(rec (cdr ls)
(append (reverse (car ls))
acc)))))
This assumes that append reuses its second argument and only creates new list structure for the copy of its first.
The repeated reverses pattern is a bit grating. Trying to make it yet more linear, we get this simple recursive code:
(define (conc3 . lols)
(cond
[(null? lols) empty ]
[(null? (car lols))
(apply conc3 (cdr lols)) ]
[else
(cons (caar lols)
(apply conc3
(cons (cdar lols) (cdr lols))))]))
This would be even better if the "tail recursive modulo cons" optimization was applied by a compiler, or if cons were evaluated lazily.
But we can build the result in the top-down manner ourselves, explicitly, set-cdr!-ing the growing list's last cell. This can be seen in this answer.
I have a list of two element sublists which will change and grow in the course of the program. I want to write a macro which takes a key and generates a case dynamically like:
;; This is the List for saving CASE clauses
(setf l '((number 2) (symbol 3)))
;; and i want to have the following expansion
(typecase 'y
(number 2)
(symbol 3))
I could have a macro which only refers to the global l:
(defmacro m (x)
`(typecase ,x ,#l))
which would expand correctly
(m 'y) ;expands to (TYPECASE 'Y (number 2) (symbol 3))
But how can i write the macro with a parameter for the list l so that it would work with other lists as well?
;; A macro which should generate the case based on the above list
(defmacro m (x l)
`(typecase ,x ,#l))
This doesn't work since l in the arguments list i a symbol and a call to (m 'y l) will expand to (TYPECASE 'Y . L).
Wanting to adhere to typecase mechanism, my workaround was as follows:
(setf types-x '(((integer 0 *) 38)
((eql neli) "Neli in X")
(symbol 39))
)
(setf types-y '(((eql neli) "Neli in Y")
((array bit *) "A Bit Vector")))
(defmacro m (x types-id)
(case types-id
(:x `(typecase ,x ,#types-x))
(:y `(etypecase ,x ,#types-y))))
(m 'neli :x) ;"Neli in X"
(m 'neli :y) ;"Neli in Y"
(m 'foo :x) ;39
Any hints and comments is appreciated.
You don't need a macro for what you're trying to do: use a function.
For instance, given
(defvar *type-matches*
'((float 0)
(number 1)
(t 3)))
Then
(defun type-match (thing &optional (against *type-matches*))
(loop for (type val) in against
when (typep thing type)
return (values val type)
finally (return (values nil nil))))
Will match a thing against a type:
> (type-match 1.0)
0
float
> (type-match 1)
1
number
You want to keep the variables sorted by type, which you can do by, for instance:
(setf *type-matches* (sort *type-matches* #'subtypep :key #'car))
You want to keep the matches sorted of course.
If you want to delay the execution of the forms then you can do something like this (this also deals with sorting the types):
(defvar *type-matches*
'())
(defmacro define-type-match (type/spec &body forms)
;; define a type match, optionally in a specified list
(multiple-value-bind (type var)
(etypecase type/spec
(symbol (values type/spec '*type-matches*))
(cons (values (first type/spec) (second type/spec))))
(let ((foundn (gensym "FOUND")))
`(let ((,foundn (assoc ',type ,var :test #'equal)))
(if ,foundn
(setf (cdr ,foundn) (lambda () ,#forms))
(setf ,var (sort (acons ',type (lambda () ,#forms) ,var)
#'subtypep :key #'car)))
',type/spec))))
(defun type-match (thing &optional (against *type-matches*))
(loop for (type . f) in against
when (typep thing type)
return (values (funcall f) type)
finally (return (values nil nil))))
The actual problem that you face is that if you do
(setf l '((number 2) (symbol 3)))
already on toplevel, if you evaluate l, you don't come further than
((number 2) (symbol 3))
So if you use l in a macro as an argument, you can't come further
than this. But what you need is to evaluate this form (modified after adding a typecase and an evaluated x upfront) once more within the macro.
This is, why #tfb suggested to write a function which actually evaluates the matching of the types specified in l.
So, we could regard his type-match function as a mini-interpreter for the type specifications given in l.
If you do a simple (defmacro m (x l) `(typecase ,x ,#l))
you face exactly that problem:
(macroexpand-1 '(m 1 l))
;; (typecase 1 . l)
but what we need is that l once more evaluated.
(defmacro m (x l)
`(typecase ,x ,#(eval l)))
Which would give the actually desired result:
(macroexpand-1 '(m 1 l))
;; (TYPECASE 1 (NUMBER 2) (SYMBOL 3)) ;
;; T
;; and thus:
(m 1 l) ;; 2
So far, it seems to work. But somewhere in the backhead it becomes itchy, because we know from books and community: "Don't use eval!! Eval in the code is evil!"
Trying around, you will find out when it will bite you very soon:
# try this in a new session:
(defmacro m (x l) `(typecase ,x ,#(eval l)))
;; m
;; define `l` after definition of the macro works:
(setf l '((number 2) (symbol 3)))
;; ((NUMBER 2) (SYMBOL 3))
(m 1 l)
;; 2 ;; so our `eval` can handle definitions of `l` after macro was stated
(m '(1 2) l)
;; NIL
;; even redefining `l` works!
(setf l '((number 2) (symbol 3) (list 4)))
;; ((NUMBER 2) (SYMBOL 3) (LIST 4))
(m 1 l)
;; 2
(m '(1 2) l)
;; 4 ;; and it can handle re-definitions of `l` correctly.
;; however:
(let ((l '((number 2) (symbol 3)))) (m '(1 2) l))
;; 4 !!! this is clearly wrong! Expected is NIL!
;; so our `eval` in the macro cannot handle scoping correctly
;; which is a no-go for usage!
;; but after re-defining `l` globally to:
(setf l '((number 2) (symbol 3)))
;; ((NUMBER 2) (SYMBOL 3))
(m '(1 2) l)
;; NIL ;; it behaves correctly
(let ((lst '((number 2) (symbol 3) (list 4)))) (m '(1 2) lst))
;; *** - EVAL: variable LST has no value
;; so it becomes clear: `m` is looking in the scoping
;; where it was defined - the global scope (the parent scope of `m` when `m` was defined or within the scope of `m`).
So the conclusion is:
The given macro with eval is NOT working correctly!!
Since it cannot handle local scoping.
So #tfb's answer - writing a mini-evaluator-function for l is the probably only way to handle this in a proper, safe, correct way.
Update
It seems to me that doing:
(defmacro m (x l)
`(typecase ,x ,#l))
(defun m-fun (x l)
(eval `(m ,x ,l)))
(m-fun ''y l) ;; 3
(m-fun 'y l) ;; error since y unknown
(let ((l '((number 2) (symbol 3) (list 4))))
(m-fun ''(1 2) l)) ;; => 4 since it is a list
(let ((l '((number 2) (symbol 3))))
(m-fun ''(1 2) l)) ;; => NIL since it is a list
(let ((l '((number 2) (symbol 3))))
(m-fun ''y l)) ;; => 3 since it is a symbol
(let ((n 12))
(m-fun n l)) ;; => 2 since it is a number
;; to improve `m-fun`, one could define
(defun m-fun (x l)
(eval `(m ',x ,l)))
;; then, one has not to do the strangely looking double quote
;; ''y but just one quote 'y.
(let ((l '((number 2) (symbol 3) (list 4))))
(m-fun '(1 2) l)) ;; => 4 since it is a list
;; etc.
at least hides the eval within a function.
And one does not have to use backquote in the main code.
Macro expansion happens at compile time, not run time, thus if the case clause list changes over the course of the program, the macro expansion will not change to reflect it.
If you want to dynamically select an unevaluated but changeable value, you can use assoc in the expansion instead of case:
(defmacro m (x l)
`(second (assoc ,x ,l)))
Sample expansion:
(m x l)
->
(SECOND (ASSOC X L))
Output of (assoc x l) with the value of l in your question and x = 'x:
(let ((x 'x))
(m x l))
->
2
However if you did decide to do it this way, you could simplify things and replace the macro with a function:
(defun m (x l)
(second (assoc x l)))
UPDATE FOR QUESTION EDIT:
Replace assoc as follows:
(defun m (x l)
(second (assoc-if (lambda (type)
(typep x type))
l)))
in common lisp I have a tree of symbols like:
(setf a '((shoe (walks(town)) (has-laces(snow)))
(tree (grows(bob)) (is-green(house)) (is tall(work)))))
all are symbols.
I want to return the sublist that contains the symbol I search for (in this case I might search using the symbol shoe and return the entire sublist in which they are contained. the keywords are always in the second layer never deeper
trying to use:
(mapcar #'member (shoe my-list))
but requires shoe to be a list (because of mapcar?) things got very convoluted after that. help please!
Given:
(setf a '((shoe (walks(town)) (has-laces(snow)))
(tree (grows(bob)) (is-green(house)) (is tall(work)))))
We can find the first (shoe ...) sublist like this:
(find 'shoe a :key #'car)
-> (SHOE (WALKS (TOWN)) (HAS-LACES (SNOW)))
I.e. search through the list of objects, which are lists, and use their car as the search key.
If there can be duplicates and we want a list of all of the sublists which start with shoe, then Common Lisp's standard library shows itself a bit clumsy. There isn't a nice function which finds all occurrences of an item; we resort to remove-if-not with a lambda:
(remove-if-not (lambda (x) (eq x 'shoe)) a :key #'car)
We can also write a loop expression:
(loop for (sym . rest) in a and
for whole in a
if (eq sym 'shoe) collect whole)
We can also make ourselves a quick and dirty find-all which can be invoked similarly to all:
(defun find-all (item sequence &key (key #'identity) (test #'eql))
(remove-if-not (lambda (elem) (funcall test item elem)) sequence :key key))
Then:
(find-all 'shoe a :key #'car)
--> ((SHOE (WALKS (TOWN)) (HAS-LACES (SNOW))))
(find-all 'x '((x 1) (y 2) (x 3) (z 4)) :key #'car)
--> ((X 1) (X 3))
(find 'x '((x 1) (y 2) (x 3) (z 4)) :key #'car)
--> ((X 1))
This is trivial implement of course, but I feel there is certainly something built in to Racket that does this. Am I correct in that intuition, and if so, what is the function?
Strangely, there isn't a built-in procedure in Racket for finding the 0-based index of an element in a list (the opposite procedure does exist, it's called list-ref). However, it's not hard to implement efficiently:
(define (index-of lst ele)
(let loop ((lst lst)
(idx 0))
(cond ((empty? lst) #f)
((equal? (first lst) ele) idx)
(else (loop (rest lst) (add1 idx))))))
But there is a similar procedure in srfi/1, it's called list-index and you can get the desired effect by passing the right parameters:
(require srfi/1)
(list-index (curry equal? 3) '(1 2 3 4 5))
=> 2
(list-index (curry equal? 6) '(1 2 3 4 5))
=> #f
UPDATE
As of Racket 6.7, index-of is now part of the standard library. Enjoy!
Here's a very simple implementation:
(define (index-of l x)
(for/or ([y l] [i (in-naturals)] #:when (equal? x y)) i))
And yes, something like this should be added to the standard library, but it's just a little tricky to do so nobody got there yet.
Note, however, that it's a feature that is very rarely useful -- since lists are usually taken as a sequence that is deconstructed using only the first/rest idiom rather than directly accessing elements. More than that, if you have a use for it and you're a newbie, then my first guess will be that you're misusing lists. Given that, the addition of such a function is likely to trip such newbies by making it more accessible. (But it will still be added, eventually.)
One can also use a built-in function 'member' which gives a sublist starting with the required item or #f if item does not exist in the list. Following compares the lengths of original list and the sublist returned by member:
(define (indexof n l)
(define sl (member n l))
(if sl
(- (length l)
(length sl))
#f))
For many situations, one may want indexes of all occurrences of item in the list. One can get a list of all indexes as follows:
(define (indexes_of1 x l)
(let loop ((l l)
(ol '())
(idx 0))
(cond
[(empty? l) (reverse ol)]
[(equal? (first l) x)
(loop (rest l)
(cons idx ol)
(add1 idx))]
[else
(loop (rest l)
ol
(add1 idx))])))
For/list can also be used for this:
(define (indexes_of2 x l)
(for/list ((i l)
(n (in-naturals))
#:when (equal? i x))
n))
Testing:
(indexes_of1 'a '(a b c a d e a f g))
(indexes_of2 'a '(a b c a d e a f g))
Output:
'(0 3 6)
'(0 3 6)
I'm having issues trying to form code for a problem I want to resolve. It goes like this:
~ Goal: flatten a nested list into one number
If the object is a list, replace the list with the sum of its atoms.
With nested lists, flatten the innermost lists first and work from there.
Example:
(CONDENSE '(2 3 4 (3 1 1 1) (2 3 (1 2)) 5))
(2 3 4 (6) (2 3 (3)) 5)
(2 3 4 (6) (8) 5)
(28)
=> 28
I've tried to implement the flatten list function for this problem and I ended up with this:
(defun condense (lst)
(cond
((null lst) nil)
((atom lst) (list lst)))
(t (append (flatten (apply #'+ (cdr lst))))))
But it gives me errors :(
Could anyone explain to me what is wrong with my processing/code? How can I improve it?
UPDATE: JUNE 5 2012
(defun condense(lxt)
(typecase lxt
(number (abs lxt))
(list
(if (all-atoms lxt)
(calculate lxt)
(condense (mapcar #'condense lxt))))))
So here, in this code, my true intent is shown. I have a function calculate that performs a calculation based off the values in the list. It is not necessarily the same operation each time. Also, I am aware that I am returning the absolute value of the number; I did this because I couldn't find another way to return the number itself. I need to find a way to return the number if the lxt is a number. And I had it recurse two times at the bottom, because this is one way that it loops on itself infinitely until it computes a single number. NOTE: this function doesn't implement a flatten function anymore nor does it use anything from it.
Imagine you have your function already. What does it get? What must it produce?
Given an atom, what does it return? Given a simple list of atoms, what should it return?
(defun condense (x)
(typecase x
(number
; then what?
(condense-number x))
(list
; then what?
(if (all-atoms x)
(condense-list-of-atoms x) ; how to do that?
(process-further-somehow
(condense-lists-inside x))))
; what other clauses, if any, must be here?
))
What must condense-lists-inside do? According to your description, it is to condense the nested lists inside - each into a number, and leave the atoms intact. So it will leave a list of numbers. To process that further somehow, we already "have" a function, condense-list-of-atoms, right?
Now, how to implement condense-lists-inside? That's easy,
(defun condense-lists-inside (xs)
(mapcar #'dowhat xs))
Do what? Why, condense, of course! Remember, we imagine we have it already. As long as it gets what it's meant to get, it shall produce what it is designed to produce. Namely, given an atom or a list (with possibly nested lists inside), it will produce a number.
So now, fill in the blanks, and simplify. In particular, see whether you really need the all-atoms check.
edit: actually, using typecase was an unfortunate choice, as it treats NIL as LIST. We need to treat NIL differently, to return a "zero value" instead. So it's better to use the usual (cond ((null x) ...) ((numberp x) ...) ((listp x) ...) ... ) construct.
About your new code: you've erred: to process the list of atoms returned after (mapcar #'condense x), we have a function calculate that does that, no need to go so far back as to condense itself. When you substitute calculate there, it will become evident that the check for all-atoms is not needed at all; it was only a pedagogical device, to ease the development of the code. :) It is OK to make superfluous choices when we develop, if we then simplify them away, after we've achieved the goal of correctness!
But, removing the all-atoms check will break your requirement #2. The calculation will then proceed as follows
(CONDENSE '(2 3 4 (3 1 1 1) (2 3 (1 2)) 5))
==
(calculate (mapcar #'condense '(2 3 4 (3 1 1 1) (2 3 (1 2)) 5)))
==
(calculate (list 2 3 4 (condense '(3 1 1 1)) (condense '(2 3 (1 2))) 5))
==
(calculate (list 2 3 4 (calculate '(3 1 1 1))
(calculate (list 2 3 (calculate '(1 2)))) 5))
==
(calculate (list 2 3 4 6 (calculate '(2 3 3)) 5))
==
(calculate (list 2 3 4 6 8 5))
==
28
I.e. it'll proceed in left-to-right fashion instead of the from the deepest-nested level out. Imagining the nested list as a tree (which it is), this would "munch" on the tree from its deepest left corner up and to the right; the code with all-atoms check would proceed strictly by the levels up.
So the final simplified code is:
(defun condense (x)
(if (listp x)
(reduce #'+ (mapcar #'condense x))
(abs x)))
a remark: Looking at that last illustration of reduction sequence, a clear picture emerges - of replacing each node in the argument tree with a calculate application. That is a clear case of folding, just such that is done over a tree instead of a plain list, as reduce is.
This can be directly coded with what's known as "car-cdr recursion", replacing each cons cell with an application of a combining function f on two results of recursive calls into car and cdr components of the cell:
(defun condense (x) (reduce-tree x #'+ 0))
(defun reduce-tree (x f z)
(labels ((g (x)
(cond
((consp x) (funcall f (g (car x)) (g (cdr x))))
((numberp x) x)
((null x) z)
(T (error "not a number")))))
(g x)))
As you can see this version is highly recursive, which is not that good.
Is this homework? If so, please mark it as such. Some hints:
are you sure the 'condensation' of the empty list in nil? (maybe you should return a number?)
are you sure the condensation of one element is a list? (maybe you should return a number?)
are you sure the condensation of the last case is a list? (shouldn't you return a number)?
In short, how is your condense ever going to return 28 if all your returned values are lists?
Task: With nested lists, flatten the innermost lists first and work from there
sum
flatten lists
For sum use REDUCE, not APPLY.
For flatten lists you need a loop. Lisp already provides specialized mapping functions.
Slightly more advanced: both the sum and the flatten can be done by a call to REDUCE.
You can also write down the recursion without using a higher-order function like APPLY, REDUCE, ... That's a bit more work.
Here's added the explanation of the errors you were having, actually you were close to solving your problem, just a bit more effort and you would get it right.
; compiling (DEFUN CONDENSE ...)
; file: /tmp/file8dCll3
; in: DEFUN CONDENSE
; (T (APPEND (FLATTEN (APPLY #'+ (CDR LST)))))
;
; caught WARNING:
; The function T is undefined, and its name is reserved
; by ANSI CL so that even
; if it were defined later, the code doing so would not be portable.
;
; compilation unit finished
; Undefined function:
; T
; caught 1 WARNING condition
;STYLE-WARNING: redefining CONDENSE in DEFUN
(defun condense (lst)
(cond
((null lst) nil)
((atom lst) (list lst)))
;.------- this is a function call, not a condition
;| (you closed the parens too early)
(t (append (flatten (apply #'+ (cdr lst))))))
;; Argument Y is not a NUMBER: (3 1 1 1)
;; [Condition of type SIMPLE-TYPE-ERROR]
(defun condense (lst)
(cond
((null lst) nil)
((atom lst) (list lst)); .-- not a number!
;You are calling #'+ -------. |
;on something, which | '(3 4 (3 1 1 1) (2 3 (1 2)) 5)
; is not a number. | |
(t (append (flatten (apply #'+ (cdr lst)))))))
;; You probably wanted to flatten first, and then sum
(defun condense (lst)
(cond
((null lst) nil); .--- returns just the
((atom lst) (list lst)); / atom 28, you can
; .---------------------/ just remove it.
(t (append (apply #'+ (flatten lst))))))
;; Now, you are lucky that append would just return the
;; atom if it's not a list
(defun condense (lst)
(cond
((null lst) nil)
((atom lst) (list lst))
(t (apply #'+ (flatten lst)))))
;; Again, you are lucky because (apply can take enough arguments
;; while your list is reasonably small - this will not always be
;; the case, that is why you need to use something more durable,
;; for example, reduce.
(defun condense (lst)
(cond
((null lst) nil)
((atom lst) (list lst))
(t (reduce #'+ (flatten lst)))))
;; Whoa!
(condense '(2 3 4 (3 1 1 1) (2 3 (1 2)) 5))
This is all given the flatten function actually works.
If your lisp already implements flatten and reduce functions (such as Clojure, which I will use here), you can just do something like:
user=> (defn condense [l] (reduce + 0 (flatten l)))
#'user/condense
user=> (condense [1 [2 [[3 4] 5]]])
15
user=>
Failing that, a naive implementation of those functions might be:
(defn flatten [l]
(cond (nil? l) l
(coll? l) (let [[h & t] l]
(concat (flatten h) (flatten t)))
true [l]))
and:
(defn reduce [op initial-value [h & t]]
(if (nil? t)
(op initial-value h)
(op initial-value (reduce op h t))))
But make sure to check the semantics of the particular Lisp you are using. Also, if you are implementing reduce and flatten, you may want to make them tail recursive which I didn't so as to maintain clarity.
In Common Lisp you would do something like:
(defun flatten (l)
(cond ((null l) l)
((atom l) (list l))
(t (append (flatten (car l))
(flatten (cdr l))))))
and use apply instead of reduce:
(defun condense (l) (apply #'+ (flatten l)))