Scala - can 'for-yield' clause yields nothing for some condition? - scala

Question

In Scala language, I want to write a function that yields odd numbers within a given range. The function prints some log when iterating even numbers. The first version of the function is:
def getOdds(N: Int): Traversable[Int] = {
val list = new mutable.MutableList[Int]
for (n <- 0 until N) {
if (n % 2 == 1) {
list += n
} else {
println("skip even number " + n)
}
}
return list
}
If I omit printing logs, the implementation become very simple:
def getOddsWithoutPrint(N: Int) =
for (n <- 0 until N if (n % 2 == 1)) yield n
However, I don't want to miss the logging part. How do I rewrite the first version more compactly? It would be great if it can be rewritten similar to this:
def IWantToDoSomethingSimilar(N: Int) =
for (n <- 0 until N) if (n % 2 == 1) yield n else println("skip even number " + n)

Answer 1

def IWantToDoSomethingSimilar(N: Int) =
for {
n <- 0 until N
if n % 2 != 0 || { println("skip even number " + n); false }
} yield n
Using filter instead of a for expression would be slightly simpler though.

Answer 2

I you want to keep the sequentiality of your traitement (processing odds and evens in order, not separately), you can use something like that (edited) :
def IWantToDoSomethingSimilar(N: Int) =
(for (n <- (0 until N)) yield {
if (n % 2 == 1) {
Option(n)
} else {
println("skip even number " + n)
None
}
// Flatten transforms the Seq[Option[Int]] into Seq[Int]
}).flatten
EDIT, following the same concept, a shorter solution :
def IWantToDoSomethingSimilar(N: Int) =
(0 until N) map {
case n if n % 2 == 0 => println("skip even number "+ n)
case n => n
} collect {case i:Int => i}

Answer 3

If you will to dig into a functional approach, something like the following is a good point to start.
First some common definitions:
// use scalaz 7
import scalaz._, Scalaz._
// transforms a function returning either E or B into a
// function returning an optional B and optionally writing a log of type E
def logged[A, E, B, F[_]](f: A => E \/ B)(
implicit FM: Monoid[F[E]], FP: Pointed[F]): (A => Writer[F[E], Option[B]]) =
(a: A) => f(a).fold(
e => Writer(FP.point(e), None),
b => Writer(FM.zero, Some(b)))
// helper for fixing the log storage format to List
def listLogged[A, E, B](f: A => E \/ B) = logged[A, E, B, List](f)
// shorthand for a String logger with List storage
type W[+A] = Writer[List[String], A]
Now all you have to do is write your filtering function:
def keepOdd(n: Int): String \/ Int =
if (n % 2 == 1) \/.right(n) else \/.left(n + " was even")
You can try it instantly:
scala> List(5, 6) map(keepOdd)
res0: List[scalaz.\/[String,Int]] = List(\/-(5), -\/(6 was even))
Then you can use the traverse function to apply your function to a list of inputs, and collect both the logs written and the results:
scala> val x = List(5, 6).traverse[W, Option[Int]](listLogged(keepOdd))
x: W[List[Option[Int]]] = scalaz.WriterTFunctions$$anon$26#503d0400
// unwrap the results
scala> x.run
res11: (List[String], List[Option[Int]]) = (List(6 was even),List(Some(5), None))
// we may even drop the None-s from the output
scala> val (logs, results) = x.map(_.flatten).run
logs: List[String] = List(6 was even)
results: List[Int] = List(5)

Answer 4

I don't think this can be done easily with a for comprehension. But you could use partition.
def getOffs(N:Int) = {
val (evens, odds) = 0 until N partition { x => x % 2 == 0 }
evens foreach { x => println("skipping " + x) }
odds
}
EDIT: To avoid printing the log messages after the partitioning is done, you can change the first line of the method like this:
val (evens, odds) = (0 until N).view.partition { x => x % 2 == 0 }