Getting and setting state in scala - scala

Question

Here is some code from the Functional Programming in Scala book:
import State._
case class State[S, +A](run: S => (A, S)) {
def map[B](f: A => B): State[S, B] =
flatMap(a => unit(f(a)))
def map2[B, C](sb: State[S, B])(f: (A, B) => C): State[S, C] =
flatMap(a => sb.map(b => f(a, b)))
def flatMap[B](f: A => State[S, B]): State[S, B] = State(s => {
val (a, s1) = run(s)
f(a).run(s1)
})
}
object State {
type Rand[A] = State[RNG, A]
def unit[S, A](a: A): State[S, A] =
State(s => (a, s))
// The idiomatic solution is expressed via foldRight
def sequenceViaFoldRight[S, A](sas: List[State[S, A]]): State[S, List[A]] =
sas.foldRight(unit[S, List[A]](List.empty[A]))((f, acc) => f.map2(acc)(_ :: _))
// This implementation uses a loop internally and is the same recursion
// pattern as a left fold. It is quite common with left folds to build
// up a list in reverse order, then reverse it at the end.
// (We could also use a collection.mutable.ListBuffer internally.)
def sequence[S, A](sas: List[State[S, A]]): State[S, List[A]] = {
def go(s: S, actions: List[State[S, A]], acc: List[A]): (List[A], S) =
actions match {
case Nil => (acc.reverse, s)
case h :: t => h.run(s) match {
case (a, s2) => go(s2, t, a :: acc)
}
}
State((s: S) => go(s, sas, List()))
}
// We can also write the loop using a left fold. This is tail recursive like the
// previous solution, but it reverses the list _before_ folding it instead of after.
// You might think that this is slower than the `foldRight` solution since it
// walks over the list twice, but it's actually faster! The `foldRight` solution
// technically has to also walk the list twice, since it has to unravel the call
// stack, not being tail recursive. And the call stack will be as tall as the list
// is long.
def sequenceViaFoldLeft[S, A](l: List[State[S, A]]): State[S, List[A]] =
l.reverse.foldLeft(unit[S, List[A]](List()))((acc, f) => f.map2(acc)(_ :: _))
def modify[S](f: S => S): State[S, Unit] = for {
s <- get // Gets the current state and assigns it to `s`.
_ <- set(f(s)) // Sets the new state to `f` applied to `s`.
} yield ()
def get[S]: State[S, S] = State(s => (s, s))
def set[S](s: S): State[S, Unit] = State(_ => ((), s))
}
I have spent hours thinking about why the get and set methods look the way they do, but I just don't understand.
Could anyone enlighten me, please?

Answer 1

The key is on the 3rd line:
case class State[S, +A](run: S => (A, S))
The stateful computation is expressed with the run function. This function represent a transition from one state S to another state S. A is a value we could produce when moving from one state to the other.
Now, how can we take the state S out of the state-monad? We could make a transition that doesn't go to a different state and we materialise the state as A with the function s => (s, s):
def get[S]: State[S, S] = State(s => (s, s))
How to set the state? All we need is a function that goes to a state s: ??? => (???, s):
def set[S](s: S): State[S, Unit] = State(_ => ((), s))
EDIT I would like to add an example to see get and set in action:
val statefullComputationsCombined = for {
a <- State.get[Int]
b <- State.set(10)
c <- State.get[Int]
d <- State.set(100)
e <- State.get[Int]
} yield (a, c, e)
Without looking further down this answer, what is the type of statefullComputationsCombined?
Must be a State[S, A] right? S is of type Int but what is A? Because we are yielding (a, c, e) must be a 3-tuple made by the As of the flatmap steps (<-).
We said that get "fill" A with the state S so the a, c ,d are of type S, so Int. b, d are Unit because def set[S](s: S): State[S, Unit].
val statefullComputationsCombined: State[Int, (Int, Int, Int)] = for ...
To use statefullComputationsCombined we need to run it:
statefullComputationsCombined.run(1)._1 == (1,10,100)
If we want the state at the end of the computation:
statefullComputationsCombined.run(1)._2 == 100