Underscore in method names - scala

Hello fellow Scalaists,
I recently took another look at setters in Scala and found out that _ in a method name seems to translate to "There might be a space or not and oh also treat the next special character as part of the method name".
So first of all, is this correct?
Secondly, can someone please explain why the second to last line doesnt work?
class Person() {
private var _name: String = "Hans"
def name = _name
def name_=(aName: String) = _name = aName.toUpperCase
}
val myP = new Person()
myP.name = "test"
myP.name= "test"
myP.name_= "test" //Bad doesnt work
myP.name_=("test")//Now It works
Lastly, removing the getter breaks the above example
class Person() {
private var _name: String = "Hans"
def name_=(aName: String) = _name = aName.toUpperCase
}
val myP = new Person()
myP.name = "test" //Doesnt work anymore
myP.name= "test" //Doesnt work anymore
myP.name_= "test" //Still doesnt work
myP.name_=("test")//Still works
Edit:
Here is a quote(seemingly false) from the source which I originally read, and which spawned this question:
This line is a bit more tricky but I'll explain. First, the method
name is "age_=". The underscore is a special character in Scala and in
this case, allows for a space in the method name which essentially
makes the name "age ="
http://dustinmartin.net/getters-and-setters-in-scala/

So first of all, is this correct?
No, underscores in method names do not work exactly like what you described. It doesn't mean "there might be a space and the character after the space is also part of the method name".
Section 4.2 of the Scala Language Specification explains what a method that has a name that ends with _= means.
A variable declaration var x: T is equivalent to the declarations of both a getter function x and a setter function x_=:
def x: T
def x_= (y: T): Unit
An implementation of a class may define a declared variable using a variable definition, or by defining the corresponding setter and getter methods.
Note that if you only define the setter method and not the getter method, then the magic of the setter method disappears - it's treated as just another method that has a name that happens to end with _=, but this has no special meaning in this case.
Only if there are a getter and setter, the method with _= acts as the setter and can be used as such - that's why myP.name = "test" doesn't work anymore if you remove the getter.

The rules are given in http://www.scala-lang.org/files/archive/spec/2.11/01-lexical-syntax.html#identifiers:
First, an identifier can start with a letter which can be followed by an arbitrary sequence of letters and digits. This may be followed by underscore _ characters and another string composed of either letters and digits or of operator characters.
So space isn't allowed after _. (It is actually allowed in identifiers between backquotes.) There are additional special rules for the case where the "string composed of either letters and digits or of operator characters" is precisely =, already described in Jesper's answer.
Secondly, can someone please explain why the second to last line doesnt work?
There are simply no special rules for this case. name_= works here as any other foo method would and you can't write myP.foo "test". But you can write myP foo "test" or myP name_= "test".

Related

Why can't I call the Scala Seq.empty[Int]() method?

I'm trying to create a class with an attribute named _1d_matrix, which is a 1D matrix. I would want to fill it with 0.
Thus, I tried to call the method empty of the Seq object (of course not the trait), as mentionned in the documentation : http://www.scala-lang.org/api/2.12.3/scala/collection/Seq$.html#empty[A]:CC[A]
For the moment my code is :
class Calc(val width : Int) {
private val _1d_matrix : Seq.empty[Int]()
}
But there are three errors :
empty is undefined
() can't be written (2 errors : "; or newline is expected" + "definition or declaration is expected")
I think it's because it's not allowed to directly make use of Seq instead of List (e.g.). But : why ? After all, Seq is an object (and a trait but not in my code).
Right way to initialize field looks like this:
private val _1d_matrix = Seq.empty[Int]
or
private val _1d_matrix: Seq[Int] = Seq()
There are two ways to define a 0-arity (no arguments) method in scala - with a pair of parenthesis after the name def exit(), and without one: def empty.
When it is defined in the former way, you can call it with or without parenthesis: exit() or exit - both work. But when parenthesis are not included into the method definition, you can not have them at the call site either: Seq.empty[Int] works, but Seq.empty[Int]() does not.
The convention is to use parenthesis for functions that have side effects, and not use them for purely functional calls.
The other problem with your code is that you have a : where it needs to be an assignment.
So, something like this should work:
val _1d_matrix = Seq.empty[Int]
Your thinking is correct but you have a couple syntax errors.
private val _1d_matrix : Seq.empty[Int]()
: here is used to define a type annotation, so it's trying to find the type Seq.empty rather than the method. That fails because there is no such type.
Use = instead to assign a value. Adding the type here is optional since Scala is able to infer the correct type.
The other is that the empty method is defined without parens, so you must use Seq.empty[Int] instead of Seq.empty[Int]()

What does this Scala syntax mean - a value definition followed by open brace and indented stuff?

I'm trying to decipher somebody else's code. The following appeared in a Scala trait. This isn't its exact content, I flattened out some of the detail to make it more general (it had some extra lines before the closed-curly-bracket incorporating a zipWithIndex method, and some other pattern matching stuff.) My main concern was that I am not familiar with this concept; a value definition that begins with an open-curly-bracket and then a bunch of indented stuff.
val example: ExampleType = {
val anOtherExample = "String"
val yetAnOtherExample = 22
new ExampleType(anOtherExample, yetAnOtherExample)
}
Having experience with C-like languages and/or Java, you may be used to the fact that curly braces {} denote a block of code - i.e. just a set of instructions that will be invoked.
Scala is different on this part, because in Scala almost everything is an expression, i.e. almost everything evaluates to some value and therefore can be assigned to a val, passed as an argument, etc.
Therefore, a block of code in Scala is not just a sequence of instructions, but a valid expression that can be assigned and passed around. Block of code evaluates to the last expression in that block, i.e.
val x: Int = {
doSomething()
doSomethingElse()
42
}
In the above example, x will have 42 assigned as its value.
{
val anotherExample = "String"
val yetAnotherExample = 22
}
This is called block. It is evaluated to its last statement. Here the last statement is an assignment val yetAnotherExample = 22 which is of type Unit in Scala. So your code will not compile if your ExampleType is not the same type as Unit.

How should Scala default arguments to refer to a previous positional argument?

Scala-lang reference 5.5.1 and 6.6.1 gave me the impression that a default parameter would be able to refer to a previously evaluated one:
class Test(val first: String, val second: String = first)
but from experimenting it seems the only way to do this is to use the form:
class Test(val first: String)(val second: String = first)
and then define an auxiliary constructor or a creational companion class to avoid specifying the second set of brackets when creating. I don't really understand how this second constructor works, it looks like a curried function so I might guess that it is necessary to evaluate first independently of second, is this correct? Is this form necessary or is there some syntatic sugar I can use to tweak the first constructor into doing what I want?
As Travis Brown points out, you can indeed only refer to a previous argument in a default expression when it is from a previous argument list (so you do need to currify).
Now, regarding your particular use case, default arguments and method overloading are sometimes two ways of achieving the same thing.
I think the simplest solution to your scenario is simply to define Test as follows:
class Test(val first : String, val second : String) {
def this(f : String) = this(f, f)
}
If you want to make it more complicated, an alternative way, using a companion object:
class Test(val first : String)(val second : String = first)
object Test {
def apply(f : String) = new Test(f)
def apply(f : String, s : String) = new Test(f)(s)
}
(A small difference is that now you create objects without new.)
What you cannot do, is define it as:
class Test(val first : String)(val second : String = first) {
def this(f : String, s : String) = this(f)(s)
}
...because the curried version gets translated into (among other things) a method with the same signature as the overloaded contructor.
From 5.3 of the spec:
The scope of a formal value parameter includes all subsequent
parameter sections and the template t.
Regular methods are the same, by the way (from 4.6):
The scope of a formal value parameter name x comprises all
subsequent parameter clauses, as well as the method return type and
the function body, if they are given.
I.e., whether you've got a constructor or an ordinary method, a value parameter name isn't in scope in its own parameter clause. In your second version the constructor has two parameter clauses, and first is only in scope in the second. See 5.3 for more detail about multiple parameter clauses.

Groovy 'def' keyword and scope problem in Eclipse

I'm following a groovy tutorial and there is a code like this:
def fruit = ["apple", "orange" , "pear"] //list
def likeIt = { String fruit -> println "I like " + fruit + "s" } //closure
fruit.each(likeIt)
Eclipse reports an error at closure definition line:
Line breakpoint:SimpleClosuresTest
[line: 27] The current scope already
contains a variable of the name fruit
# line 27, column 14.
If i omit 'def' from 'def fruit' Eclipse doesn't complaint and code runs fine.
Could someone explain what is going on with the scopes in both cases?
Thanks.
first a general review of a groovy script:
// file: SomeScript.groovy
x = 1
def x = 2
println x
println this.x
is roughly compiled as:
class SomeScript extends groovy.lang.Script {
def x
def run() {
x = 1
def x = 2
println x // 2
println this.x // 1
}
}
in a groovy script (roughly speaking, a file without the class declaration), assigning a value to an undefined variable is interpreted as a field assignment.
your example tries to defines a closure with a parameter named fruit.
if you defined fruit with the def keyword you get an error message because the name is already taken as a local variable, and you can't duplicate a local variable name.
when you leave the def keyword out, you are actually assigning the value to a field of the class generated for the script, and thus the name fruit can be redefined as a local variable.
regarding scopes, it's pretty much like java...
in the example, you can see x is defined first as a field and then as a variable local to the run() method. there's nothing wrong with that and you can access both the variable and the field.
but once you define a local variable, you cannot create duplicates.
edit --
had to add this before anyone gets me wrong: the translation is not exactly like this (thus the "roughly"). Instead of a field you add a value to the binding of the script, quite like args for commandline scripts or request, session or response for groovlets.
but that is much a longer story...
ok if you really want to know just ask again and i'll explain it better
edit 2 --
i just can't leave it like this, if you ever need more info...
every groovy script has a field named binding, an instance of groovy.lang.Binding or one of its a subclasses.
this binding is basically a map, with methods setVariable and setVariable.
when you omit the def keyword when assigning a value in a script you are actually calling the method setVariable, and when you do something like this.x you are calling the getVariable method.
this is actually because class groovy.lang.Script overrides the methods getProperty and setProperty to call those methods first. that's the reason they behave like fields.
you might have also noticed that there is no type associated to those variables... that's because we are dealing with just a Map inside the binding.
standard groovy scrips are created with an instance of a binding with the args set to the array of parameters.
others, like groovy.servlet.ServletBinding define more variables and behavior, like block the assignment of certain variables, or adding a lazy initialization capabilities...
then the real reason behind the error is... if the def keyword is not used, fruits is not a real variable. still, i believe the behavior is somewhat analog to a field.
sorry about all that.
i was not satisfied with my own oversimplification :S
That String fruit shouldn't be having the same name as your def fruit. (you are defining first a list and then a string with the same name)
def likeIt = { String fruit -> println "I like " + fruit + "s" }
In the second case you are defining the type of the variable with def a posteriori, so it works but it is not a good practice as far as I know.
I think that you don't even need to write ->. The groovy manual says that "The -> token is optional and may be omitted if your Closure definition takes fewer than two parameters", which is the case here.
Second line
String fruit
the same variable name 'fruit' is being used again

About Scala's assignments and setter methods

Edit: The bug which prompted this question has now been fixed.
In the Scala Reference, I can read (p. 86):
The interpretation of an assignment to
a simple variable x = e depends on the
definition of x. If x denotes a
mutable variable, then the assignment
changes the current value of x to be
the result of evaluating the
expression e. The type of e is
expected to conform to the type of x.
If x is a parameterless function
defined in some template, and the same
template contains a setter function
x_= as member, then the assignment x =
e is interpreted as the invocation
x_=(e) of that setter function.
Analogously, an assignment f .x = e to
a parameterless function x is
interpreted as the invocation f.x_=(e).
So, for instance, something like this works fine:
class A {
private var _a = 0
def a = _a
def a_=(a: Int) = _a = a
}
I can then write
val a = new A
a.a = 10
But if I define the class like this, adding a type parameter to method a:
class A {
private var _a = 0
def a[T] = _a
def a_=(a: Int) = _a = a
}
then it doesn't work any more; I get an error: reassignment to val if I write a.a = 10. Funny enough, it still works with no type parameter and an implicit parameter list, for instance.
Arguably, in this example, the type parameter is not very useful, but in the design of DSLs, it would be great to have the setter method called even if the getter has type parameters (and by the way, adding type parameters on the setter is allowed and works fine).
So I have three questions:
Is there a workaround?
Should the current behavior be considered a bug?
Why does the compiler enforce a getter method to allow using the syntactic sugar for the setter?
UPDATE
Here's what I'm really trying to do. It's rather long, sorry, I meant to avoid it but I realized it was more confusing to omit it.
I'm designing GUIs with SWT in Scala, and having huge fun using Dave Orme's XScalaWT, which immensely reduces the amount of needed code. Here's an example from his blog post on how to create an SWT Composite that converts °C to °F degrees:
var fahrenheit: Text = null
var celsius: Text = null
composite(
_.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, true)),
label("Fahrenheit"),
label("Celsius"),
text(fahrenheit = _),
text(celsius = _),
button(
"Fahrenheit => Celsius",
{e : SelectionEvent => celcius.setText((5.0/9.0) * (fahrenheit - 32)) }
),
button(
"Celsius -> Fahrenheit",
{e : SelectionEvent => fahrenheit.setText((9.0/5.0) * celsius + 32) })
)
)
The argument to each of the widget-constructing methods is of type (WidgetType => Any)*, with a few useful implicit conversions, which for instance allow to directly specify a string for widgets that have a setText() method. All constructor functions are imported from a singleton object.
In the end, I'd like to be able to write something along these lines:
val fieldEditable = new WritableValue // observable value
composite(
textField(
editable <=> fieldEditable,
editable = false
),
checkbox(
caption = "Editable",
selection <=> fieldEditable
)
)
This would bind the editable property of the textfield to the selection of the checkbox through the WritableValue variable.
First: named arguments are not applicable here, so the line editable = false has to come from somewhere. So, along the widget-constructing methods in the singleton object, I could write, conceptually,
def editable_=[T <: HasEditable](value: Boolean) = (subject: T) => subject.setEditable(value)
... but this works only if the getter is also present. Great: I'd need the getter anyway in order to implement databinding with <=>. Something like this:
def editable[T <: HasEditable] = new BindingMaker((widget: T) => SWTObservables.observeEditable(widget))
If this worked, life would be good because I can then define <=> in BindingMaker and I can use this nice syntax. But alas, the type parameter on the getter breaks the setter. Hence my original question: why would this simple type parameter affect whether the compiler decides to go ahead with the syntactic sugar for calling the setter?
I hope this makes it a bit clearer now. Thanks for reading…
UPDATE Deleted the entire previous answer in light of new information.
There's a lot of very odd stuff going on here, so I'm going try try and explain my understanding of what you have so far:
def editable_=[T <: HasEditable](value: Boolean) = (subject: T) => subject.setEditable(value)
This is a setter method, and exists purely so that it can give the appearance of beinng a named parameter
in your DSL. It sets nothing and actually returns a Function.
textField(
editable <=> fieldEditable,
editable = false
)
This is calling the textField factory method, with what looks like a named param, but is actually the setter method defined previously.
Amazingly, the approach seems to work, despite my initial concern that the compiler would recognize this as a named parameter and produce a syntax error. I tested it with simple monomorphic (non-generic) methods, though it does require the getter method to be defined for the setter to be seen as such - a fact that you've already noted.
Some amount of "cleverness" is often required in writing a DSL (where it would otherwise be totally forbidden), so it's no surprise that your original intent was unclear. This is perhaps a completely new technique never before seen in Scala. The rules for setter and getter definitions were based on using them as getters and setters, so don't be surprised if things crack a little when you push at the boundaries like this.
It seems the real problem here is the way you're using type params. In this expression:
def editable_=[T <: HasEditable](value: Boolean) = (subject: T) => subject.setEditable(value)
The compiler has no way of inferring a particular T from the supplied argument, so it will take the most general type allowed (HasEditable in this case). You could change this behaviour by explicitly supplying a type param when using the method, but that would seem to defeat the entire point of what you're seeking to achieve.
Given that functions can't be generic (only methods can), I doubt that you even want type bounds at all. So one approach you could try is to just drop them:
def editable_=(value: Boolean) = (subject: HasEditable) => subject.setEditable(value)
def editable = new BindingMaker((widget: HasEditable) => SWTObservables.observeEditable(widget))