What is a good way of reusing function result in Scala - scala

Question

Let me clarify my question by example. This is a standard exponentiation algorithm written with tail recursion in Scala:
def power(x: Double, y: Int): Double = {
def sqr(z: Double): Double = z * z
def loop(xx: Double, yy: Int): Double =
if (yy == 0) xx
else if (yy % 2 == 0) sqr(loop(xx, yy / 2))
else loop(xx * x, yy - 1)
loop(1.0, y)
}
Here sqr method is used to produce the square of loop's result. It doesn't look like a good idea - to define a special function for such a simple operation. But, we can't write just loop(..) * loop(..) instead, since it doubles the calculations.
We also can write it with val and without sqr function:
def power(x: Double, y: Int): Double = {
def loop(xx: Double, yy: Int): Double =
if (yy == 0) xx
else if (yy % 2 == 0) { val s = loop(xx, yy / 2); s * s }
else loop(xx * x, yy - 1)
loop(1.0, y)
}
I can't say that it looks better then variant with sqr, since it uses state variable. The first case is more functional the second way is more Scala-friendly.
Anyway, my question is how to deal with cases when you need to postprocess function's result? Maybe Scala has some other ways to achieve that?

Answer 1

You are using the law that
x^(2n) = x^n * x^n
But this is the same as
x^n * x^n = (x*x)^n
Hence, to avoid squaring after recursion, the value in the case where y is even should be like displayed below in the code listing.
This way, tail-calling will be possible. Here is the full code (not knowing Scala, I hope I get the syntax right by analogy):
def power(x: Double, y: Int): Double = {
def loop(xx: Double, acc: Double, yy: Int): Double =
if (yy == 0) acc
else if (yy % 2 == 0) loop(xx*xx, acc, yy / 2)
else loop(xx, acc * xx, yy - 1)
loop(x, 1.0, y)
}
Here it is in a Haskell like language:
power2 x n = loop x 1 n
where
loop x a 0 = a
loop x a n = if odd n then loop x (a*x) (n-1)
else loop (x*x) a (n `quot` 2)

Answer 2

You could use a "forward pipe". I've got this idea from here: Cache an intermediate variable in an one-liner.
So
val s = loop(xx, yy / 2); s * s
could be rewritten to
loop(xx, yy / 2) |> (s => s * s)
using an implicit conversion like this
implicit class PipedObject[A](value: A) {
def |>[B](f: A => B): B = f(value)
}
As Petr has pointed out: Using an implicit value class
object PipedObjectContainer {
implicit class PipedObject[A](val value: A) extends AnyVal {
def |>[B](f: A => B): B = f(value)
}
}
to be used like this
import PipedObjectContainer._
loop(xx, yy / 2) |> (s => s * s)
is better, since it does not need a temporary instance (requires Scala >= 2.10).

Answer 3

In my comment I pointed out that your implementations can't be tail call optimised, because in the case where yy % 2 == 0, there is a recursive call that is not in tail position. So, for a large input, this can overflow the stack.
A general solution to this is to trampoline your function, replacing recursive calls with data which can be mapped over with "post-processing" such as sqr. The result is then computed by an interpreter, which steps through the return values, storing them on the heap rather than the stack.
The Scalaz library provides an implementation of the data types and interpreter.
import scalaz.Free.Trampoline, scalaz.Trampoline._
def sqr(z: Double): Double = z * z
def power(x: Double, y: Int): Double = {
def loop(xx: Double, yy: Int): Trampoline[Double] =
if (yy == 0)
done(xx)
else if (yy % 2 == 0)
suspend(loop(xx, yy / 2)) map sqr
else
suspend(loop(xx * x, yy - 1))
loop(1.0, y).run
}
There is a considerable performance hit for doing this, though. In this particular case, I would use Igno's solution to avoid the need to call sqr at all. But, the technique described above can be useful when you can't make such optimisations to your algorithm.

Answer 4

In this particular case
No need for utility functions
No need for obtuse piping / implicits
Only need a single standalone recursive call at end - to always give tail recursion
def power(x: Double, y: Int): Double =
if (y == 0) x
else {
val evenPower = y % 2 == 0
power(if (evenPower) x * x else x, if (evenPower) y / 2 else y - 1)
}