I've looked around and found several other examples of this, but I don't really understand from those answers what's actually going on.
I'd like to understand why the following code fails to compile:
val df = readFiles(sqlContext).
withColumn("timestamp", udf(UDFs.parseDate _)($"timestamp"))
Giving the error:
Error:(29, 58) not enough arguments for method udf: (implicit evidence$2: reflect.runtime.universe.TypeTag[java.sql.Date], implicit evidence$3: reflect.runtime.universe.TypeTag[String])org.apache.spark.sql.UserDefinedFunction.
Unspecified value parameter evidence$3.
withColumn("timestamp", udf(UDFs.parseDate _)($"timestamp")).
^
Whereas this code does compile:
val parseDate = udf(UDFs.parseDate _)
val df = readFiles(sqlContext).
withColumn("timestamp", parseDate($"timestamp"))
Obviously I've found a "workaround" but I'd really like to understand:
What this error really means. The info I have found on TypeTags and ClassTags has been really difficult to understand. I don't come from a Java background, which perhaps doesn't help, but I think I should be able to grasp it…
If I can achieve what I want without a separate function definition
The error message is a bit mis-leading indeed; the reason for it is that the function udf takes an implicit parameter list but you are passing an actual parameter. Since I don't know much about spark and since the udf signature is a bit convoluted I'll try to explain what is going on with a simplified example.
In practice udf is a function that given some explicit parameters and an implicit parameter list gives you another function; let's define the following function that given a pivot of type T for which we have an implicit Ordering will give as a function that allows us to split a sequence in two, one containing elements smaller than pivot and the other containing elements that are bigger:
def buildFn[T](pivot: T)(implicit ev: Ordering[T]): Seq[T] => (Seq[T], Seq[T]) = ???
Let's leave out the implementation as it's not important. Now, if I do the following:
val elements: Seq[Int] = ???
val (small, big) = buildFn(10)(elements)
I will make the same kind of mistake that you are showing in your code, i.e. the compiler will think that I am explicitly passing elements as the implicit parameter list and this won't compile. The error message of my example will be somewhat different from the one you have because in my case the number of parameters I am mistakenly passing for the implicit parameter list matches the expected one and then the error will be about types not lining up.
Instead, if I write it as:
val elements: Seq[Int] = ???
val fn = buildFn(10)
val (small, big) = fn(elements)
In this case the compiler will correctly pass the implicit parameters to the function. I don't know of any way to circumvent this problem, unless you want to pass the actual implicit parameters explicitly but I find it quite ugly and not always practical; for reference this is what I mean:
val elements: Seq[Int] = ???
val (small, big) = buildFn(10)(implicitly[Ordering[Int]])(elements)
Related
I'm trying to build a DenseMatrix of Vectors in breeze. However I keep getting the error message:
could not find implicit value for evidence parameter of type breeze.storage.Zero[breeze.linalg.DenseVector[Double]]
for the line:
val som: DenseMatrix[DenseVector[Double]] = DenseMatrix.tabulate(5, 5){ (i, j) => DenseVector.rand(20)}
Even though doing something similar with a Scala Array works fine:
val som = Array.tabulate(5, 5)((i, j) => DenseVector.rand(20))
I'm not sure what it is I'm doing wrong or what I'm missing? To be honest I don't understand what the error message is telling me... I don't do enough Scala programming to understand this? What even is an Evidence parameter and can I explicitly specify it or do I need an implicit?
This is because DenseMatrix.tabulate[V] firstly fills the matrix with zeroes. So there should be an instance of type class Zero for V, i.e. in our case for DenseVector[Double]. You can define it yourself e.g.
implicit def denseVectorZero[V: Zero : ClassTag]: Zero[DenseVector[V]] =
new Zero(DenseVector.zeros(0))
i.e. if we know Zero for V then we know Zero for DenseVector[V].
Or even easier
implicit def ev[V: ClassTag]: Zero[DenseVector[V]] = new Zero(DenseVector(Array.empty))
I am a Scala noob reading through a parsing library, and have reached some syntax I do not understand:
def parseA[_: P] = P("a")
val Parsed.Success(value, successIndex) = parse("a", parseA(_))
I want to be able to combine these lines into one, ie
val Parsed.Success(value, successIndex) = parse("a", P("a"))
but this gives a compile error:
Error:(8, 61) overloaded method value P with alternatives:
[T](t: fastparse.P[T])(implicit name: sourcecode.Name, implicit ctx: fastparse.P[_])fastparse.P[T] <and>
=> fastparse.ParsingRun.type
cannot be applied to (String)
Error occurred in an application involving default arguments.
val Parsed.Success(value, successIndex) = parse(source, P("a"))
How should this line be written? And can you name the syntax concepts involved to maximise my learning?
_: P is the same as (implicit ctx: P[_]), that means that method is asking for an implicit parameter of type P[_] (the underscore means that it does not care for the inner type. See What are all the uses of an underscore in Scala?).
P("a") is calling this method, which requires such implicit in scope, and that is why in your second example it fails to compile, because it did not find the implicit parameter.
The features sued here are implicits, existential types & macros...
All of them are very advanced techniques. If you are just starting, I would suggest to leave them for latter.
Implicits are very important and useful, I would start from there, but first make sure you feel comfortable with "normal" Scala (whatever that means).
For the second question, I think this should work.
def program[_: P] = parse("a", P("a"))
val Parsed.Success(value, successIndex) = program
HMap seems to be the perfect data structure for my use case, however, I can't get it working:
case class Node[N](node: N)
class ImplVal[K, V]
implicit val iv1 = new ImplVal[Int, Node[Int]]
implicit val iv2 = new ImplVal[Int, Node[String]]
implicit val iv3 = new ImplVal[String, Node[Int]]
val hm = HMap[ImplVal](1 -> Node(1), 2 -> Node("two"), "three" -> Node(3))
My first question is whether it is possible to create those implicits vals automatically. For sure, for typical combinations I could create them manually, but I'm wondering if there is something more generic, less boilerplate way.
Next question is, how to get values out of the map:
val res1 = hm.get(1) // (1) ambiguous implicit values: both value iv2 [...] and value iv1 [...] match expected type ImplVal[Int,V]`
To me, Node[Int] (iv1) and Node[String] (iv2) look pretty different :) I thought, despite the JVM type erasure limitations, Scala could differentiate here. What am I missing? Do I have to use other implicit values to make the difference clear?
The explicit version works:
val res2 = hm.get[Int, Node[Int]](1) // (2) works
Of course, in this simple case, I could add the type information to the get call. But in the following case, where only the keys are known in advance, I don't know how to do it:
def get[T <: HList](keys: T): HList = // return associated values for keys
Is there any simple solution to this problem?
BTW, what documentation about Scala's type system (or Shapeless or in functional programming in general) could be recommended to understand the whole topic better as I have to admit, I'm lacking some background for this topic.
The type of the key determines the type of the value. You have Int keys corresponding to both Node[Int] and Node[String] values, hence the ambiguity. You might find this article helpful in explaining the general mechanism underlying this.
I am new to Scala, and I hope this question is not too basic. I couldn't find the answer to this question on the web (which might be because I don't know the relevant keywords).
I am trying to understand the following definition:
def functionName[T <: AnyRef](name: Symbol)(range: String*)(f: T => String)(implicit tag: ClassTag[T]): DiscreteAttribute[T] = {
val r = ....
new anotherFunctionName[T](name.toString, f, Some(r))
}
First , why is it defined as def functionName[...](...)(...)(...)(...)? Can't we define it as def functionName[...](..., ..., ..., ...)?
Second, how does range: String* from range: String?
Third, would it be a problem if implicit tag: ClassTag[T] did not exist?
First , why is it defined as def functionName...(...)(...)(...)? Can't we define it as def functionName[...](..., ..., ..., ...)?
One good reason to use currying is to support type inference. Consider these two functions:
def pred1[A](x: A, f: A => Boolean): Boolean = f(x)
def pred2[A](x: A)(f: A => Boolean): Boolean = f(x)
Since type information flows from left to right if you try to call pred1 like this:
pred1(1, x => x > 0)
type of the x => x > 0 cannot be determined yet and you'll get an error:
<console>:22: error: missing parameter type
pred1(1, x => x > 0)
^
To make it work you have to specify argument type of the anonymous function:
pred1(1, (x: Int) => x > 0)
pred2 from the other hand can be used without specifying argument type:
pred2(1)(x => x > 0)
or simply:
pred2(1)(_ > 0)
Second, how does range: String* from range: String?
It is a syntax for defining Repeated Parameters a.k.a varargs. Ignoring other differences it can be used only on the last position and is available as a scala.Seq (here scala.Seq[String]). Typical usage is apply method of the collections types which allows for syntax like SomeDummyCollection(1, 2, 3). For more see:
What does `:_*` (colon underscore star) do in Scala?
Scala variadic functions and Seq
Is there a difference in Scala between Seq[T] and T*?
Third, would it be a problem if implicit tag: ClassTag[T] did not exist?
As already stated by Aivean it shouldn't be the case here. ClassTags are automatically generated by the compiler and should be accessible as long as the class exists. In general case if implicit argument cannot be accessed you'll get an error:
scala> import scala.concurrent._
import scala.concurrent._
scala> val answer: Future[Int] = Future(42)
<console>:13: error: Cannot find an implicit ExecutionContext. You might pass
an (implicit ec: ExecutionContext) parameter to your method
or import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global.
val answer: Future[Int] = Future(42)
Multiple argument lists: this is called "currying", and enables you to call a function with only some of the arguments, yielding a function that takes the rest of the arguments and produces the result type (partial function application). Here is a link to Scala documentation that gives an example of using this. Further, any implicit arguments to a function must be specified together in one argument list, coming after any other argument lists. While defining functions this way is not necessary (apart from any implicit arguments), this style of function definition can sometimes make it clearer how the function is expected to be used, and/or make the syntax for partial application look more natural (f(x) rather than f(x, _)).
Arguments with an asterisk: "varargs". This syntax denotes that rather than a single argument being expected, a variable number of arguments can be passed in, which will be handled as (in this case) a Seq[String]. It is the equivalent of specifying (String... range) in Java.
the implicit ClassTag: this is often needed to ensure proper typing of the function result, where the type (T here) cannot be determined at compile time. Since Scala runs on the JVM, which does not retain type information beyond compile time, this is a work-around used in Scala to ensure information about the type(s) involved is still available at runtime.
Check currying:Methods may define multiple parameter lists. When a method is called with a fewer number of parameter lists, then this will yield a function taking the missing parameter lists as its arguments.
range:String* is the syntax for varargs
implicit TypeTag parameter in Scala is the alternative for Class<T> clazzparameter in Java. It will be always available if your class is defined in scope. Read more about type tags.
I have the following method:
def lift[P <: Product, L <: HList](params: P)(implicit hl: Generic.Aux[P, L]) = {
directive[L](_(hl to params))
}
and it perfectly works if i pass more then two arguments:
val result = lift("string", 'a', 10) // compiles
val result2 = list(true, 5) // compiles
But when i'm passing a single argument it can't resolve implicit:
val failes = lift("string")
It can't find Generic implicit for [String, Nothing], why does it work in other cases?
You're seeing the result of auto-tupling, which is a Scala (mis-)feature that causes lift(true, 5) to be parsed as lift((true, 5)) when there's no lift method with the appropriate number of values (two, in this case). The compiler won't automatically wrap a single value in a Tuple1, however—you just get a compiler error.
See for example this answer for more details about auto-tupling, and this thread for some reasons auto-tupling is a terrible thing to include in your language.
There are a couple of possible workarounds. The first would be to create an implicit conversion from values to Tuple1, as suggested in this answer. I wouldn't personally recommend this approach—every implicit conversion you introduce into your code is another mine in the minefield.
Instead I'd suggest avoiding autotupling altogether. Write out list((true, 5)) explicitly—you get a lot of extra clarity at the cost of only a couple of extra characters. Unfortunately there's no comparable literal support for Tuple1, so you have to write out lift(Tuple1("string")), but even that's not too bad, and if you really wanted you could define a new liftOne method that would do it for you.