%% $Id$ \documentclass[11pt]{book} \usepackage{fleqn,a4wide,vquote,modefs,math,prooftree,scaladefs} \newcommand{\exercise}{\paragraph{Exercise:}} \newcommand{\rewriteby}[1]{\mbox{\tab\tab\rm(#1)}} \title{Scala By Examples} \author{ Martin Odersky \\ LAMP/EPFL } \sloppy \begin{document} \maketitle \bibliographystyle{alpha} \chapter{\label{chap:intro}Introduction} \input{rationale-chapter.tex} The rest of this document is structured as follows. Chapters~\ref{chap:example-one} and \ref{chap:example-auction} highlight some of the features that make Scala interesting. The following chapters introduce the language constructs of Scala in a more thorough way. Chapter~\ref{chap:simple-funs} introduces basic expressions and simple functions. Chapter~\ref{chap:first-class-funs} introduces higher-order functions. (to be continued). This document ows a great dept to Sussman and Abelson's wonderful book ``Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs''\cite{abelson-sussman:structure}. Many of their examples and exercises are also present here. Of course, the working language has in each case been changed from Scheme to Scala. Furthermore, the examples make use of Scala's object-oriented constructs where appropriate. \chapter{\label{chap:example-one}A First Example} As a first example, here is an implementation of Quicksort in Scala. \begin{verbatim} def sort(xs: Array[int]): unit = { def swap(i: int, j: int): unit = { val t = xs(i); xs(i) = xs(j); xs(j) = t; } def sort1(l: int, r: int): unit = { val pivot = xs((l + r) / 2); var i = l, j = r; while (i <= j) { while (xs(i) < pivot) { i = i + 1 } while (xs(j) > pivot) { j = j - 1 } if (i <= j) { swap(i, j); i = i + 1; j = j - 1; } } if (l < j) sort1(l, j); if (j < r) sort1(i, r); } sort1(0, xs.length - 1); } \end{verbatim} The implementation looks quite similar to what one would write in Java or C. We use the same operators and similar control structures. There are also some minor syntactical differences. In particular: \begin{itemize} \item Definitions start with a reserved word. Function definitions start with \verb@def@, variable definitions start with \verb@var@ and definitions of values (i.e. read only variables) start with \verb@val@. \item The declared type of a symbol is given after the symbol and a colon. The declared type can often be omitted, because the compiler can infer it from the context. \item We use \verb@unit@ instead of \verb@void@ to define the result type of a procedure. \item Array types are written \verb@Array[T]@ rather than \verb@T[]@, and array selections are written \verb@a(i)@ rather than \verb@a[i]@. \item Functions can be nested inside other functions. Nested functions can access parameters and local variables of enclosing functions. For instance, the name of the array \verb@a@ is visible in functions \verb@swap@ and \verb@sort1@, and therefore need not be passed as a parameter to them. \end{itemize} So far, Scala looks like a fairly conventional language with some syntactic pecularities. In fact it is possible to write programs in a conventional imperative or object-oriented style. This is important because it is one of the things that makes it easy to combine Scala components with components written in mainstream languages such as Java, C\# or Visual Basic. However, it is also possible to write programs in a style which looks completely different. Here is Quicksort again, this time written in functional style. \begin{verbatim} def sort(xs: List[int]): List[int] = { val pivot = a(a.length / 2); sort(a.filter(x => x < pivot)) ::: a.filter(x => x == pivot) ::: sort(a.filter(x => x > pivot)) } \end{verbatim} The functional program works with lists instead of arrays.\footnote{In a future complete implemenetation of Scala, we could also have used arrays instead of lists, but at the moment arrays do not yet support \verb@filter@ and \verb@:::@.} It captures the essence of the quicksort algorithm in a concise way: \begin{itemize} \item Pick an element in the middle of the list as a pivot. \item Partition the lists into two sub-lists containing elements that are less than, respectively greater than the pivot element, and a third list which contains elements equal to privot. \item Sort the first two sub-lists by a recursive invocation of the sort function.\footnote{This is not quite what the imperative algorithm does; the latter partitions the array into two sub-arrays containing elements less than or greater or equal to pivot.} \item The result is obtained by appending the three sub-lists together. \end{itemize} Both the imperative and the functional implementation have the same asymptotic complexity -- $O(N;log(N))$ in the average case and $O(N^2)$ in the worst case. But where the imperative implementation operates in place by modifying the argument array, the functional implementation returns a new sorted list and leaves the argument list unchanged. The functional implementation thus requires more transient memory than the imperative one. The functional implementation makes it look like Scala is a language that's specialized for functional operations on lists. In fact, it is not; all of the operations used in the example are simple library methods of a class \verb@List[t]@ which is part of the standard Scala library, and which itself is implemented in Scala. In particular, there is the method \verb@filter@ which takes as argument a {\em predicate function} that maps list elements to boolean values. The result of \verb@filter@ is a list consisting of all the elements of the original list for which the given predicate function is true. The \verb@filter@ method of an object of type \verb@List[t]@ thus has the signature \begin{verbatim} def filter(p: t => boolean): List[t] . \end{verbatim} Here, \verb@t => boolean@ is the type of functions that take an element of type \verb@t@ and return a \verb@boolean@. Functions like \verb@filter@ that take another function as argument or return one as result are called {\em higher-order} functions. In the quicksort program, \verb@filter@ is applied three times to an anonymous function argument. The first argument, \verb@x => x <= pivot@ represents the function that maps its parameter \verb@x@ to the boolean value \verb@x <= pivot@. That is, it yields true if \verb@x@ is smaller or equal than \verb@pivot@, false otherwise. The function is anonymous, i.e.\ it is not defined with a name. The type of the \verb@x@ parameter is omitted because a Scala compiler can infer it automatically from the context where the function is used. To summarize, \verb@xs.filter(x => x <= pivot)@ returns a list consisting of all elements of the list \verb@xs@ that are smaller than \verb@pivot@. \comment{ It is also possible to apply higher-order functions such as \verb@filter@ to named function arguments. Here is functional quicksort again, where the two anonymous functions are replaced by named auxiliary functions that compare the argument to the \verb@pivot@ value. \begin{verbatim} def sort (xs: List[int]): List[int] = { val pivot = xs(xs.length / 2); def leqPivot(x: int) = x <= pivot; def gtPivot(x: int) = x > pivot; def eqPivot(x: int) = x == pivot; sort(xs filter leqPivot) ::: sort(xs filter eqPivot) ::: sort(xs filter gtPivot) } \end{verbatim} } An object of type \verb@List[t]@ also has a method ``\verb@:::@'' which takes an another list and which returns the result of appending this list to itself. This method has the signature \begin{verbatim} def :::(that: List[t]): List[t] . \end{verbatim} Scala does not distinguish between identifiers and operator names. An identifier can be either a sequence of letters and digits which begins with a letter, or it can be a sequence of special characters, such as ``\verb@+@'', ``\verb@*@'', or ``\verb@:@''. The last definition thus introduced a new method identifier ``\verb@:::@''. This identifier is used in the Quicksort example as a binary infix operator that connects the two sub-lists resulting from the partition. In fact, any method can be used as an operator in Scala. The binary operation $E;op;E'$ is always interpreted as the method call $E.op(E')$. This holds also for binary infix operators which start with a letter. The recursive call to \verb@sort@ in the last quicksort example is thus equivalent to \begin{verbatim} sort(a.filter(x => x < pivot)) .:::(sort(a.filter(x => x == pivot))) .:::(sort(a.filter(x => x > pivot))) . \end{verbatim} Looking again in detail at the first, imperative implementation of Quicksort, we find that many of the language constructs used in the second solution are also present, albeit in a disguised form. For instance, ``standard'' binary operators such as \verb@+@, \verb@-@, or \verb@<@ are not treated in any special way. Like \verb@append@, they are methods of their left operand. Consequently, the expression \verb@i + 1@ is regarded as the invocation \verb@i.+(1)@ of the \verb@+@ method of the integer value \verb@x@. Of course, a compiler is free (if it is moderately smart, even expected) to recognize the special case of calling the \verb@+@ method over integer arguments and to generate efficient inline code for it. Control constructs such as \verb@while@ are also not primitive but are predefined functions in the standard Scala library. Here is the definition of \verb@while@ in Scala. \begin{verbatim} def while (def p: boolean) (def s: unit): unit = if (p) { s ; while(p)(s) } \end{verbatim} The \verb@while@ function takes as first parameter a test function, which takes no parameters and yields a boolean value. As second parameter it takes a command function which also takes no parameters and yields a trivial result. \verb@while@ invokes the command function as long as the test function yields true. Again, compilers are free to pick specialized implementations of \verb@while@ that have the same behavior as the invocation of the function given above. \chapter{\label{chap:example-auction}Programming with Actors and Messages} Here's an example that shows an application area for which Scala is particularly well suited. Consider the task of implementing an electronic auction service. We use an Erlang-style actor process model to implement the participants of the auction. Actors are objects to which messages are sent. Every process has a ``mailbox'' of its incoming messages which is represented as a queue. It can work sequentially through the messages in its mailbox, or search for messages matching some pattern. For every traded item there is an auctioneer process that publishes information about the traded item, that accepts offers from clients and that communicates with the seller and winning bidder to close the transaction. We present an overview of a simple implementation here. As a first step, we define the messages that are exchanged during an auction. There are two abstract base classes (called {\em traits}): \verb@AuctionMessage@ for messages from clients to the auction service, and \verb@AuctionReply@ for replies from the service to the clients. These are defined as follows. \begin{verbatim} trait AuctionMessage; case class Offer(bid: int, client: Actor), \=// make a bid Inquire(client: Actor) extends AuctionMessage; \>// inquire status trait AuctionReply; case class Status(asked: int, expiration: Date), \>// asked sum, expiration date BestOffer, \>// yours is the best offer BeatenOffer(maxBid: int), \>// offer beaten by maxBid AuctionConcluded(seller: Actor, client: Actor), \>// auction concluded AuctionFailed, \>// failed with no bids AuctionOver extends AuctionReply; \>// bidding is closed \end{verbatim} \begin{figure}[htb] \begin{verbatim} class Auction(seller: Actor, minBid: int, closing: Date) extends Actor { val timeToShutdown = 36000000; // msec val bidIncrement = 10; def execute { var maxBid = minBid - bidIncrement; var maxBidder: Actor = _; var running = true; while (running) { receiveWithin ((closing.getTime() - new Date().getTime())) { case Offer(bid, client) => if (bid >= maxBid + bidIncrement) { if (maxBid >= minBid) maxBidder send BeatenOffer(bid); maxBid = bid; maxBidder = client; client send BestOffer; } else { client send BeatenOffer(maxBid); } case Inquire(client) => client send Status(maxBid, closing); case TIMEOUT => if (maxBid >= minBid) { val reply = AuctionConcluded(seller, maxBidder); maxBidder send reply; seller send reply; } else { seller send AuctionFailed; } receiveWithin(timeToShutdown) { case Offer(_, client) => client send AuctionOver case TIMEOUT => running = false; }}}}} \end{verbatim} \caption{\label{fig:simple-auction}Implementation of an Auction Service} \end{figure} For each base class, there are a number of {\em case classes} which define the format of particular messages in the class. These messages might well be ultimately mapped to small XML documents. We expect automatic tools to exist that convert between XML documents and internal data structures like the ones defined above. Figure~\ref{fig:simple-auction} presents a Scala implementation of a class \verb@Auction@ for auction processes that coordinate the bidding on one item. Objects of this class are created by indicating \begin{itemize} \item a seller process which needs to be notified when the auction is over, \item a minimal bid, \item the date when the auction is to be closed. \end{itemize} The process behavior is defined by its \verb@run@ method. That method repeatedly selects (using \verb@receiveWithin@) a message and reacts to it, until the auction is closed, which is signalled by a \verb@TIMEOUT@ message. Before finally stopping, it stays active for another period determined by the \verb@timeToShutdown@ constant and replies to further offers that the auction is closed. Here are some further explanations of the constructs used in this program: \begin{itemize} \item The \verb@receiveWithin@ method of class \verb@Actor@ takes as parameters a time span given in milliseconds and a function that processes messages in the mailbox. The function is given by a sequence of cases that each specify a pattern and an action to perform for messages matching the pattern. The \verb@receiveWithin@ method selects the first message in the mailbox which matches one of these patterns and applies the corresponding action to it. \item The last case of \verb@receiveWithin@ is guarded by a \verb@TIMEOUT@ pattern. If no other messages are received in the meantime, this pattern is triggered after the time span which is passed as argument to the enclosing \verb@receiveWithin@ method. \verb@TIMEOUT@ is a particular instance of class \verb@Message@, which is triggered by the \verb@Actor@ implementation itself. \item Reply messages are sent using syntax of the form \verb@destination send SomeMessage@. \verb@send@ is used here as a binary operator with a process and a message as arguments. This is equivalent in Scala to the method call \verb@destination.send(SomeMessage)@, i.e. the invocation of the \verb@send@ of the destination process with the given message as parameter. \end{itemize} The preceding discussion gave a flavor of distributed programming in Scala. It might seem that Scala has a rich set of language constructs that support actor processes, message sending and receiving, programming with timeouts, etc. In fact, the opposite is true. All the constructs discussed above are offered as methods in the library class \verb@Actor@. That class is itself implemented in Scala, based on the underlying thread model of the host language (e.g. Java, or .NET). The implementation of all features of class \verb@Actor@ used here is given in Section~\ref{sec:actors}. The advantages of this approach are relative simplicity of the core language and flexibility for library designers. Because the core language need not specify details of high-level process communication, it can be kept simpler and more general. Because the particular model of messages in a mailbox is a library module, it can be freely modified if a different model is needed in some applications. The approach requires however that the core language is expressive enough to provide the necessary language abstractions in a convenient way. Scala has been designed with this in mind; one of its major design goals was that it should be flexible enough to act as a convenient host language for domain specific languages implemented by library modules. For instance, the actor communication constructs presented above can be regarded as one such domain specific language, which conceptually extends the Scala core. \chapter{\label{chap:simple-funs}Expressions and Simple Functions} The previous examples gave an impression of what can be done with Scala. We now introduce its constructs one by one in a more systematic fashion. We start with the smallest level, expressions and functions. \section{Expressions And Simple Functions} A Scala system comes with an interpreter which can be seen as a fancy calculator. A user interacts with the calculator by typing in expressions and obtaining the results of their evaluation. Example: \begin{verbatim} ? 87 + 145 232 ? 1000 - 333 667 ? 5 + 2 * 3 11 \end{verbatim} It is also possible to name a sub-expression and use the name instead of the expression afterwards: \begin{verbatim} ? def size = 2 def size: int ? 5 * size 10 \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} ? def pi = 3.14159 def pi: double ? def radius = 10 def radius: int ? 2 * pi * radius 62.8318 \end{verbatim} Definitions start with the reserved word \verb@def@; they introduce a name which stands for the expression following the \verb@=@ sign. The interpreter will answer with the introduced name and its type. Executing a definition such as \verb@def x = e@ will not evaluate the expression \verb@e@. Instead \verb@e@ is evaluated whenever \verb@x@ is used. Alternatively, Scala offers a value definition \verb@val x = e@, which does evaluate the right-hand-side \verb@e@ as part of the evaluation of the definition. If \verb@x@ is then used subsequently, it is immediately replaced by the pre-computed value of \verb@e@, so that the expression need not be evaluated again. How are expressions evaluated? An expression consisting of operators and operands is evaluated by repeatedly applying the following simplification steps. \begin{itemize} \item pick the left-most operation \item evaluate its operands \item apply the operator to the operand values. \end{itemize} A name defined by \verb@def@\ is evaluated by replacing the name by the definition's right hand side. A name defined by \verb@val@ is evaluated by replacing the name by the value of the definitions's right-hand side. The evaluation process stops once we have reached a value. A value is some data item such as a string, a number, an array, or a list. \example Here is an evaluation of an arithmetic expression. \begin{verbatim} \=(2 * pi) * radius -> \>(2 * 3.14159) * radius -> \>6.28318 * radius -> \>6.28318 * 10 -> \>62.8318 \end{verbatim} The process of stepwise simplification of expressions to values is called {\em reduction}. \section{Parameters} Using \verb@def@, one can also define functions with parameters. Example: \begin{verbatim} ? def square(x: double) = x * x def square(x: double): double ? square(2) 4.0 ? square(5 + 4) 81.0 ? square(square(4)) 256.0 ? def sumOfSquares(x: double, y: double) = square(x) + square(y) def sumOfSquares(x: double, y: double): double \end{verbatim} Function parameters follow the function name and are always enclosed in parentheses. Every parameter comes with a type, which is indicated following the parameter name and a colon. At the present time, we only need basic numeric types such as the type \verb@double@ of double precision numbers. These are written as in Java. Functions with parameters are evaluated analogously to operators in expressions. First, the arguments of the function are evaluated (in left-to-right order). Then, the function application is replaced by the function's right hand side, and at the same time all formal parameters of the function are replaced by their corresponding actual arguments. \example\ \begin{verbatim} \=sumOfSquares(3, 2+2) -> \>sumOfSquares(3, 4) -> \>square(3) + square(4) -> \>3 * 3 + square(4) -> \>9 + square(4) -> \>9 + 4 * 4 -> \>9 + 16 -> \>25 \end{verbatim} The example shows that the interpreter reduces function arguments to values before rewriting the function application. One could instead have chosen to apply the function to unreduced arguments. This would have yielded the following reduction sequence: \begin{verbatim} \= sumOfSquares(3, 2+2) -> \>square(3) + square(2+2) -> \>3 * 3 + square(2+2) -> \>9 + square(2+2) -> \>9 + (2+2) * (2+2) -> \>9 + 4 * (2+2) -> \>9 + 4 * 4 -> \>9 + 16 -> \>25 \end{verbatim} The second evaluation order is known as \emph{call-by-name}, whereas the first one is known as \emph{call-by-value}. For expressions that use only pure functions and that therefore can be reduced with the substitution model, both schemes yield the same final values. Call-by-value has the advantage that it avoids repeated evaluation of arguments. Call-by-name has the advantage that it avoids evaluation of arguments when the parameter is not used at all by the function. Call-by-value is usually more efficient than call-by-name, but a call-by-value evaluation might loop where a call-by-name evaluation would terminate. Consider: \begin{verbatim} ? def loop: int = loop def loop: int ? def first(x: int, y: int) = x def first(x: int, y: int): int \end{verbatim} Then \verb@first(1, loop)@ reduces with call-by-name to \verb@1@, whereas the same term reduces with call-by-value repeatedly to itself, hence evaluation does not terminate. \begin{verbatim} \=first(1, loop) -> \>first(1, loop) -> \>first(1, loop) -> \>... \end{verbatim} Scala uses call-by-value by default, but it switches to call-by-name evaluation if the parameter is preceded by \verb@def@. \example\ \begin{verbatim} ? def constOne(x: int, def y: int) = 1 constOne(x: int, def y: int): int ? constOne(1, loop) 1 ? constOne(loop, 2) // gives an infinite loop. ^C \end{verbatim} \section{Conditional Expressions} Scala's \verb@if-else@ lets one choose between two alternatives. Its syntax is like Java's \verb@if-else@. But where Java's \verb@if-else@ can be used only as an alternative of statements, Scala allows the same syntax to choose between two expressions. Scala's \verb@if-else@ hence also replaces Java's conditional expression \verb@ ... ? ... : ...@. \example\ \begin{verbatim} ? def abs(x: double) = if (x >= 0) x else -x abs(x: double): double \end{verbatim} Scala's boolean expressions are similar to Java's; they are formed from the constants \verb@true@ and \verb@false@, comparison operators, boolean negation \verb@!@ and the boolean operators \verb@&&@ and \verb@||@. \section{\label{sec:sqrt}Example: Square Roots by Newton's Method} We now illustrate the language elements introduced so far in the construction of a more interesting program. The task is to write a function \begin{verbatim} def sqrt(x: double): double = ... \end{verbatim} which computes the square root of \verb@x@. A common way to compute square roots is by Newton's method of successive approximations. One starts with an initial guess \verb@y@ (say: \verb@y = 1@). One then repeatedly improves the current guess \verb@y@ by taking the average of \verb@y@ and \verb@x/y@. As an example, the next three columns indicate the guess \verb@y@, the quotient \verb@x/y@, and their average for the first approximations of $\sqrt 2$. \begin{verbatim} 1 \=2/1 = 2 \=1.5 1.5 \>2/1.5 = 1.3333 \>1.4167 1.4167 \>2/1.4167 = 1.4118 \>1.4142 1.4142 \>... \>... y \>x/y \>(y + x/y)/2 \end{verbatim} One can implement this algorithm in Scala by a set of small functions, which each represent one of the elements of the algorithm. We first define a function for iterating from a guess to the result: \begin{verbatim} def sqrtIter(guess: double, x: double): double = if (isGoodEnough(guess, x)) guess else sqrtIter(improve(guess, x), x); \end{verbatim} Note that \verb@sqrtIter@ calls itself recursively. Loops in imperative programs can always be modelled by recursion in functional programs. Note also that the definition of \verb@sqrtIter@ contains a return type, which follows the parameter section. Such return types are mandatory for recursive functions. For a non-recursive function, the return type is optional; if it is missing the type checker will compute it from the type of the function's right-hand side. However, even for non-recursive functions it is often a good idea to include a return type for better documentation. As a second step, we define the two functions called by \verb@sqrtIter@: a function to \verb@improve@ the guess and a termination test \verb@isGoodEnough@. Here's their definition. \begin{verbatim} def improve(guess: double, x: double) = (guess + x / guess) / 2; def isGoodEnough(guess: double, x: double) = abs(square(guess) - x) < 0.001; \end{verbatim} Finally, the \verb@sqrt@ function itself is defined by an aplication of \verb@sqrtIter@. \begin{verbatim} def sqrt(x: double) = sqrtIter(1.0, x); \end{verbatim} \exercise The \verb@isGoodEnough@ test is not very precise for small numbers and might lead to non-termination for very large ones (why?). Design a different version \verb@isGoodEnough@ which does not have these problems. \exercise Trace the execution of the \verb@sqrt(4)@ expression. \section{Nested Functions} The functional programming style encourages the construction of many small helper functions. In the last example, the implementation of \verb@sqrt@ made use of the helper functions \verb@sqrtIter@, \verb@improve@ and \verb@isGoodEnough@. The names of these functions are relevant only for the implementation of \verb@sqrt@. We normally do not want users of \verb@sqrt@ to acess these functions directly. We can enforce this (and avoid name-space pollution) by including the helper functions within the calling function itself: \begin{verbatim} def sqrt(x: double) = { def sqrtIter(guess: double, x: double): double = if (isGoodEnough(guess, x)) guess else sqrtIter(improve(guess, x), x); def improve(guess: double, x: double) = (guess + x / guess) / 2; def isGoodEnough(guess: double, x: double) = abs(square(guess) - x) < 0.001; sqrtIter(1.0, x) } \end{verbatim} In this program, the braces \verb@{ ... }@ enclose a {\em block}. Blocks in Scala are themselves expressions. Every block ends in a result expression which defines its value. The result expression may be preceded by auxiliary definitions, which are visible only in the block itself. Every definition in a block must be followed by a semicolon, which separates this definition from subsequent definitions or the result expression. However, a semicolon is inserted implicitly if the definition ends in a right brace and is followed by a new line. Therefore, the following are all legal: \begin{verbatim} def f(x) = x + 1; /* `;' mandatory */ f(1) + f(2) def g(x) = {x + 1} g(1) + g(2) def h(x) = {x + 1}; /* `;' mandatory */ h(1) + h(2) \end{verbatim} Scala uses the usual block-structured scoping rules. A name defined in some outer block is visible also in some inner block, provided it is not redefined there. This rule permits us to simplify our \verb@sqrt@ example. We need not pass \verb@x@ around as an additional parameter of the nested functions, since it is always visible in them as a parameter of the outer function \verb@sqrt@. Here is the simplified code: \begin{verbatim} def sqrt(x: double) = { def sqrtIter(guess: double): double = if (isGoodEnough(guess)) guess else sqrtIter(improve(guess)); def improve(guess: double) = (guess + x / guess) / 2; def isGoodEnough(guess: double) = abs(square(guess) - x) < 0.001; sqrtIter(1.0) } \end{verbatim} \section{Tail Recursion} Consider the following function to compute the greatest common divisor of two given numbers. \begin{verbatim} def gcd(a: int, b: int): int = if (b == 0) a else gcd(b, a % b) \end{verbatim} Using our substitution model of function evaluation, \verb@gcd(14, 21)@ evaluates as follows: \begin{verbatim} \=gcd(14, 21) -> \>if (21 == 0) 14 else gcd(21, 14 % 21) -> \>if (false) 14 else gcd(21, 14 % 21) -> \>gcd(21, 14 % 21) -> \>gcd(21, 14) -> \>if (14 == 0) 21 else gcd(14, 21 % 14) -> -> \>gcd(14, 21 % 14) -> \>gcd(14, 7) -> \>if (7 == 0) 14 else gcd(7, 14 % 7) -> -> \>gcd(7, 14 % 7) -> \>gcd(7, 0) -> \>if (0 == 0) 7 else gcd(0, 7 % 0) -> -> \>7 \end{verbatim} Contrast this with the evaluation of another recursive function, \verb@factorial@: \begin{verbatim} def factorial(n: int): int = if (n == 0) 1 else n * factorial(n - 1) \end{verbatim} The application \verb@factorial(5)@ rewrites as follows: \begin{verbatim} \=factorial(5) -> \>if (5 == 0) 1 else 5 * factorial(5 - 1) -> \>5 * factorial(5 - 1) -> \>5 * factorial(4) -> ... -> \>5 * (4 * factorial(3)) -> ... -> \>5 * (4 * (3 * factorial(2))) -> ... -> \>5 * (4 * (3 * (2 * factorial(1)))) -> ... -> \>5 * (4 * (3 * (2 * (1 * factorial(0)))) -> ... -> \>5 * (4 * (3 * (2 * (1 * 1)))) -> ... -> \>120 \end{verbatim} There is an important difference between the two rewrite sequences: The terms in the rewrite sequence of \verb@gcd@ have again and again the same form. As evaluation proceeds, their size is bounded by a constant. By contrast, in the evaluation of factorial we get longer and longer chains of operands which are then multiplied in the last part of the evaluation sequence. Even though actual implementations of Scala do not work by rewriting terms, they nevertheless should have the same space behavior as in the rewrite sequences. In the implementation of \verb@gcd@, one notes that the recursive call to \verb@gcd@ is the last action performed in the evaluation of its body. One also says that \verb@gcd@ is ``tail-recursive''. The final call in a tail-recursive function can be implemented by a jump back to the beginning of that function. The arguments of that call can overwrite the parameters of the current instantiation of \verb@gcd@, so that no new stack space is needed. Hence, tail recursive functions are iterative processes, which can be executed in constant space. By contrast, the recursive call in \verb@factorial@ is followed by a multiplication. Hence, a new stack frame is allocated for the recursive instance of factorial, and is decallocated after that instance has finished. The given formulation of the factorial function is not tail-recursive; it needs space proportional to its input parameter for its execution. More generally, if the last action of a function is a call to another (possibly the same) function, only a single stack frame is needed for both functions. Such calls are called ``tail calls''. In principle, tail calls can always re-use the stack frame of the calling function. However, some run-time environments (such as the Java VM) lack the primititives to make stack frame re-use for tail calls efficient. A production quality Scala implementation is therefore only required to re-use the stack frame of a directly tail-recursive function whose last action is a call to itself. Other tail calls might be optimized also, but one should not rely on this across implementations\footnote{The current Scala implementation is not yet production quality; it never optimizes tail calls, not even directly recursive ones}. \exercise Design a tail-recursive version of \verb@factorial@. \chapter{\label{chap:first-class-funs}First-Class Functions} A function in Scala is a ``first-class value''. Like any other value, it may be passed as a parameter or returned as a result. Functions which take other functions as parameters or return them as results are called {\em higher-order} functions. This chapter introduces higher-order functions and shows how they provide a flexible mechanism for program composition. As a motivating example, consider the following three related tasks: \begin{enumerate} \item Write a function to sum all integers between two given numbers \verb@a@ and \verb@b@: \begin{verbatim} def sumInts(a: int, b: int): double = if (a > b) 0 else a + sumInts(a + 1, b) \end{verbatim} \item Write a function to sum the cubes of all integers between two given numbers \verb@a@ and \verb@b@: \begin{verbatim} def cube(x: int): double = x * x * x def sumCubes(a: int, b: int): double = if (a > b) 0 else cube(a) + sumSqrts(a + 1, b) \end{verbatim} \item Write a function to sum the reciprocals of all integers between two given numbers \verb@a@ and \verb@b@: \begin{verbatim} def sumReciprocals(a: int, b: int): double = if (a > b) 0 else 1.0 / a + sumReciprocals(a + 1, b) \end{verbatim} \end{enumerate} These functions are all instances of \(\sum^b_a f(n)\) for different values of $f$. We can factor out the common pattern by defining a function \verb@sum@: \begin{verbatim} def sum(f: int => double, a: int, b: int): double = if (a > b) 0 else f(a) + sum(f, a + 1, b) \end{verbatim} The type \verb@int => double@ is the type of functions that take arguments of type \verb@int@ and return results of type \verb@double@. So \verb@sum@ is a function which takes another function as a parameter. In other words, \verb@sum@ is a {\em higher-order} function. Using \verb@sum@, we can formulate the three summing functions as follows. \begin{verbatim} def sumInts(a: int, b: int): double = sum(id, a, b); def sumCubes(a: int, b: int): double = sum(cube, a, b); def sumReciprocals(a: int, b: int): double = sum(reciprocal, a, b); \end{verbatim} where \begin{verbatim} def id(x: int): double = x; def cube(x: int): double = x * x * x; def reciprocal(x: int): double = 1.0/x; \end{verbatim} \section{Anonymous Functions} Parameterization by functions tends to create many small functions. In the previous example, we defined \verb@id@, \verb@cube@ and \verb@reciprocal@ as separate functions, so that they could be passed as arguments to \verb@sum@. Instead of using named function definitions for these small argument functions, we can formulate them in a shorter way as {\em anonymous functions}. An anonymous function is an expression that evaluates to a function; the function is defined without giving it a name. As an example consider the anonymous reciprocal function: \begin{verbatim} x: int => 1.0/x \end{verbatim} The part before the arrow `\verb@=>@' is the parameter of the function, whereas the part following the `\verb@=>@' is its body. If there are several parameters, we need to enclose them in parentheses. For instance, here is an anonymous function which multiples its two arguments. \begin{verbatim} (x: double, y: double) => x * y \end{verbatim} Using anonymous functions, we can reformulate the three summation functions without named auxiliary functions: \begin{verbatim} def sumInts(a: int, b: int): double = sum(x: int => x, a, b); def sumCubes(a: int, b: int): double = sum(x: int => x * x * x, a, b); def sumReciprocals(a: int, b: int): double = sum(x: int => 1.0/x, a, b); \end{verbatim} Often, the Scala compiler can deduce the parameter type(s) from the context of the anonymous function. In this case, they can be omitted. For instance, in the case of \verb@sumInts@, \verb@sumCubes@ and \verb@sumReciprocals@, one knows from the type of \verb@sum@ that the first parameter must be a function of type \verb@int => double@. Hence, the parameter type \verb@int@ is redundant and may be omitted: \begin{verbatim} def sumInts(a: int, b: int): double = sum(x => x, a, b); def sumCubes(a: int, b: int): double = sum(x => x * x * x, a, b); def sumReciprocals(a: int, b: int): double = sum(x => 1.0/x, a, b); \end{verbatim} Generally, the Scala term \verb@(x$_1$: T$_1$, ..., x$_n$: T$_n$) => E@ defines a function which maps its parameters \verb@x$_1$, ..., x$_n$@ to the result of the expression \verb@E@ (where \verb@E@ may refer to \verb@x$_1$, ..., x$_n$@). Anonymous functions are not essential language elements of Scala, as they can always be expressed in terms of named functions. Indeed, the anonymous function \verb@(x$_1$: T$_1$, ..., x$_n$: T$_n$) => E@ is equivalent to the block \begin{verbatim} { def f (x$_1$: T$_1$, ..., x$_n$: T$_n$) = E ; f } \end{verbatim} where \verb@f@ is fresh name which is used nowhere else in the program. We also say, anonymous functions are ``syntactic sugar''. \section{Currying} The latest formulation of the three summing function is already quite compact. But we can do even better. Note that \verb@a@ and \verb@b@ appear as parameters and arguments of every function but they do not seem to take part in interesting combinations. Is there a way to get rid of them? Let's try to rewrite \verb@sum@ so that it does not take the bounds \verb@a@ and \verb@b@ as parameters: \begin{verbatim} def sum(f: int => double) = { def sumF(a: int, b: int): double = if (a > b) 0 else f(a) + sumF(a + 1, b); sumF } \end{verbatim} In this formulation, \verb@sum@ is a function which returns another function, namely the specialized summing function \verb@sumF@. This latter function does all the work; it takes the bounds \verb@a@ and \verb@b@ as parameters, applies \verb@sum@'s function parameter \verb@f@ to all integers between them, and sums up the results. Using this new formulation of \verb@sum@, we can now define: \begin{verbatim} def sumInts = sum(x => x); def sumCubes = sum(x => x * x * x); def sumReciprocals = sum(x => 1.0/x); \end{verbatim} Or, equivalently, with value definitions: \begin{verbatim} val sumInts = sum(x => x); val sumCubes = sum(x => x * x * x); val sumReciprocals = sum(x => 1.0/x); \end{verbatim} These functions can be applied like other functions. For instance, \begin{verbatim} ? sumCubes(1, 10) + sumReciprocals (10, 20) 3025.7687714031754 \end{verbatim} How are function-returning functions applied? As an example, in the expression \begin{verbatim} sum (x => x * x * x) (1, 10) , \end{verbatim} the function \verb@sum@ is applied to the cubing function \verb@(x => x * x * x)@. The resulting function is then applied to the second argument list, \verb@(1, 10)@. This notation is possible because function application associates to the left. That is, if $args_1$ and $args_2$ are argument lists, then \bda{lcl} f(args_1)(args_2) & \ \ \mbox{is equivalent to}\ \ & (f(args_1))(args_2) \eda In our example, \verb@sum(x => x * x * x)(1, 10)@ is equivalent to \verb@(sum(x => x * x * x))(1, 10)@. The style of function-returning functions is so useful that Scala has special syntax for it. For instance, the next definition of \verb@sum@ is equivalent to the previous one, but is shorter: \begin{verbatim} def sum(f: int => double)(a: int, b: int): double = if (a > b) 0 else f(a) + sum(f)(a + 1, b) \end{verbatim} Generally, a curried function definition \begin{verbatim} def f (args$_1$) ... (args$_n$) = E \end{verbatim} where $n > 1$ expands to \begin{verbatim} def f (args$_1$) ... (args$_{n-1}$) = { def g (args$_n$) = E ; g } \end{verbatim} where \verb@g@ is a fresh identifier. Or, shorter, using an anonymous function: \begin{verbatim} def f (args$_1$) ... (args$_{n-1}$) = ( args$_n$ ) => E . \end{verbatim} Performing this step $n$ times yields that \begin{verbatim} def f (args$_1$) ... (args$_n$) = E \end{verbatim} is equivalent to \begin{verbatim} def f = (args$_1$) => ... => (args$_n$) => E . \end{verbatim} Or, equivalently, using a value definition: \begin{verbatim} val f = (args$_1$) => ... => (args$_n$) => E . \end{verbatim} This style of function definition and application is called {\em currying} after its promoter, Haskell B.\ Curry, a logician of the 20th century, even though the idea goes back further to Moses Sch\"onfinkel and Gottlob Frege. The type of a function-returning function is expressed analogously to its parameter list. Taking the last formulation of \verb@sum@ as an example, the type of \verb@sum@ is \verb@(int => double) => (int, int) => double@. This is possible because function types associate to the right. I.e. \begin{verbatim} T$_1$ => T$_2$ => T$_3$ \=$\mbox{is equivalent to}$ \=T$_1$ => (T$_2$ => T$_3$) . \end{verbatim} \subsection*{Exercises:} 1. The \verb@sum@ function uses a linear recursion. Can you write a tail-recursive one by filling in the ??'s? \begin{verbatim} def sum(f: int => double)(a: int, b: int): double = { def iter (a, result) = { if (??) ?? else iter (??, ??) } iter (??, ??) } \end{verbatim} 2. Write a function \verb@product@ that computes the product of the values of functions at points over a given range. 3. Write \verb@factorial@ in terms of \verb@product@. 4. Can you write an even more general function which generalizes both \verb@sum@ and \verb@product@? \section{Example: Finding Fixed Points of Functions} A number \verb@x@ is called a {\em fixed point} of a function \verb@f@ if \begin{verbatim} f(x) = x . \end{verbatim} For some functions \verb@f@ we can locate the fixed point by beginning with an initial guess and then applying \verb@f@ repeatedly, until the value does not change anymore (or the change is within a small tolerance). This is possible if the sequence \begin{verbatim} x, f(x), f(f(x)), f(f(f(x))), ... \end{verbatim} converges to fixed point of $f$. This idea is captured in the following ``fixed-point finding function'': \begin{verbatim} val tolerance = 0.0001; def isCloseEnough(x: double, y: double) = abs((x - y) / x) < tolerance; def fixedPoint(f: double => double)(firstGuess: double) = { def iterate(guess: double): double = { val next = f(guess); if (isCloseEnough(guess, next)) next else iterate(next) } iterate(firstGuess) } \end{verbatim} We now apply this idea in a reformulation of the square root function. Let's start with a specification of \verb@sqrt@: \begin{verbatim} sqrt(x) \== $\mbox{the {\sl y} such that}$ y * y = x \>= $\mbox{the {\sl y} such that}$ y = x / y \end{verbatim} Hence, \verb@sqrt(x)@ is a fixed point of the function \verb@y => x / y@. This suggests that \verb@sqrt(x)@ can be computed by fixed point iteration: \begin{verbatim} def sqrt(x: double) = fixedPoint(y => x / y)(1.0) \end{verbatim} Unfortunately, this does not converge. Let's instrument the fixed point function with a print statement which keeps track of the current \verb@guess@ value: \begin{verbatim} def fixedPoint(f: double => double)(firstGuess: double) = { def iterate(guess: double): double = { val next = f(guess); System.out.println(next); if (isCloseEnough(guess, next)) next else iterate(next) } iterate(firstGuess) } \end{verbatim} Then, \verb@sqrt(2)@ yields: \begin{verbatim} 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 ... \end{verbatim} One way to control such oscillations is to prevent the guess from changing too much. This can be achieved by {\em averaging} successive values of the original sequence: \begin{verbatim} > def sqrt(x: double) = fixedPoint(y => (y + x/y) / 2)(1.0) > sqrt(2.0) 1.5 1.4166666666666665 1.4142156862745097 1.4142135623746899 1.4142135623746899 \end{verbatim} In fact, expanding the \verb@fixedPoint@ function yields exactly our previous definition of fixed point from Section~\ref{sec:sqrt}. The previous examples showed that the expressive power of a language is considerably enhanced if functions can be passed as arguments. The next example shows that functions which return functions can also be very useful. Consider again fixed point iterations. We started with the observation that $\sqrt(x)$ is a fixed point of the function \verb@y => x / y@. Then we made the iteration converge by averaging successive values. This technique of {\em average dampening} is so general that it can be wrapped in another function. \begin{verbatim} def averageDamp(f: double => double)(x: double) = (x + f(x)) / 2 \end{verbatim} Using \verb@averageDamp@, we can reformulate the square root function as follows. \begin{verbatim} def sqrt(x: double) = fixedPoint(averageDamp(y => x/y))(1.0) \end{verbatim} This expresses the elements of the algorithm as clearly as possible. \exercise Write a function for cube roots using \verb@fixedPoint@ and \verb@averageDamp@. \section{Summary} We have seen in the previous chapter that functions are essential abstractions, because they permit us to introduce general methods of computing as explicit, named elements in our programming language. The current chapter has shown that these abstractions can be combined by higher-order functions to create further abstractions. As programmers, we should look out for opportunities to abstract and to reuse. The highest possible level of abstraction is not always the best, but it is important to know abstraction techniques, so that one can use abstractions where appropriate. \section{Language Elements Seen So Far} Chapters~\ref{chap:simple-funs} and \ref{chap:first-class-funs} have covered Scala's language elements to express expressions and types comprising of primitive data and functions. The context-free syntax of these language elements is given below in extended Backus-Naur form, where `\verb@|@' denotes alternatives, \verb@[...]@ denotes option (0 or 1 occurrences), and \verb@{...}@ denotes repetition (0 or more occurrences). \subsection*{Characters} Scala programs are sequences of (Unicode) characters. We distinguish the following character sets: \begin{itemize} \item whitespace, such as `\verb@ @', tabulator, or newline characters, \item letters `\verb@a@' to `\verb@z@', `\verb@A@' to `\verb@Z@', \item digits \verb@`0'@ to `\verb@9@', \item the delimiter characters \begin{verbatim} . , ; ( ) { } [ ] \ " ' \end{verbatim} \item operator characters, such as `\verb@#@' `\verb@+@', `\verb@:@'. Essentially, these are printable characters which are in none of the character sets above. \end{itemize} \subsection*{Lexemes:} \begin{verbatim} ident ::= letter {letter | digit} | operator { operator } | ident `_' ident literal ::= $\mbox{``as in Java''}$ \end{verbatim} Literals are as in Java. They define numbers, characters, strings, or boolean values. Examples of literals as \verb@0@, \verb@1.0d10@, \verb@'x'@, \verb@"he said \"hi!\""@, or \verb@true@. Identifiers can be of two forms. They either start with a letter, which is followed by a (possibly empty) sequence of letters or symbols, or they start with an operator character, which is followed by a (possibly empty) sequence of operator characters. Both forms of identifiers may contain underscore characters `\verb@_@'. Furthermore, an underscore character may be followed by either sort of identifier. Hence, the following are all legal identifiers: \begin{verbatim} x Room10a + -- foldl_: +_vector \end{verbatim} It follows from this rule that subsequent operator-identifiers need to be separated by whitespace. For instance, the input \verb@x+-y@ is parsed as the three token sequence \verb@x@, \verb@+-@, \verb@y@. If we want to express the sum of \verb@x@ with the negated value of \verb@y@, we need to add at least one space, e.g. \verb@x+ -y@. The `\verb@\$@' character is reserved for compiler-generated identifiers; it should not be used in source programs. %$ The following are reserved words, they may not be used as identifiers: \begin{verbatim} abstract case class def do else extends false final for if import new null object override package private protected super this trait true type val var with yield \end{verbatim} \subsection*{Types:} \begin{verbatim} Type \= = SimpleType | FunctionType FunctionType \> = SimpleType `=>' Type | `(' [Types] `)' `=>' Type SimpleType \> = byte | short | char | int | long | double | float | boolean | unit | String Types \> = Type {`,' Type} \end{verbatim} Types can be: \begin{itemize} \item number types \verb@byte@, \verb@short@, \verb@char@, \verb@int@, \verb@long@, \verb@float@ and \verb@double@ (these are as in Java), \item the type \verb@boolean@ with values \verb@true@ and \verb@false@, \item the type \verb@unit@ with the only value \verb@{}@, \item the type \verb@String@, \item function types such as \verb@(int, int) => int@ or \verb@String => Int => String@. \end{itemize} \subsection*{Expressions:} \begin{verbatim} Expr \= = InfixExpr | FunctionExpr | if `(' Expr `)' Expr else Expr InfixExpr \> = PrefixExpr | InfixExpr Operator InfixExpr Operator \> = ident PrefixExpr \> = [`+' | `-' | `!' | `~' ] SimpleExpr SimpleExpr \> = ident | literal | SimpleExpr `.' ident | Block FunctionExpr\> = Bindings `=> Expr Bindings \> = ident [`:' SimpleType] | `(' [Binding {`,' Binding}] `)' Binding \> = ident [`:' Type] Block \> = `{' {Def `;'} Expr `}' \end{verbatim} Expressions can be: \begin{itemize} \item identifiers such as \verb@x@, \verb@isGoodEnough@, \verb@*@, or \verb@+-@, \item literals, such as \verb@0@, \verb@1.0@, or \verb@"abc"@, \item field and method selections, such as \verb@System.out.println@, \item function applications, such as \verb@sqrt(x)@, \item operator applications, such as \verb@-x@ or \verb@y + x@, \item conditionals, such as \verb@if (x < 0) -x else x@, \item blocks, such as \verb@{ val x = abs(y) ; x * 2 }@, \item anonymous functions, such as \verb@x => x + 1@ or \verb@(x: int, y: int) => x + y@. \end{itemize} \subsection*{Definitions:} \begin{verbatim} Def \= = \=FunDef | ValDef FunDef \> = \>def ident {`(' [Parameters] `)'} [`:' Type] `=' Expr ValDef \> = \>val ident [`:' Type] `=' Expr Parameters \> = \>Parameter {`,' Parameter} Parameter \> = \>[def] ident `:' Type \end{verbatim} Definitions can be: \begin{itemize} \item function definitions such as \verb@def square(x: int) = x * x@, \item value definitions such as \verb@val y = square(2)@. \end{itemize} \chapter{Classes and Objects} \label{chap:classes} Scala does not have a built-in type of rational numbers, but it is easy to define one, using a class. Here's a possible implementation. \begin{verbatim} class Rational(n: int, d: int) { private def gcd(x: int, y: int): int = { if (x == 0) y else if (x < 0) gcd(-x, y) else if (y < 0) -gcd(x, -y) else gcd(y % x, x); } private val g = gcd(n, d); val numer: int = n/g; val denom: int = d/g; def +(that: Rational) = new Rational(numer * that.denom + that.numer * denom, denom * that.denom); def -(that: Rational) = new Rational(numer * that.denom - that.numer * denom, denom * that.denom); def *(that: Rational) = new Rational(numer * that.numer, denom * that.denom); def /(that: Rational) = new Rational(numer * that.denom, denom * that.numer); } \end{verbatim} This defines \verb@Rational@ as a class which takes two constructor arguments \verb@n@ and \verb@d@, containing the number's numerator and denominator parts. The class provides fields which return these parts as well as methods for arithmetic over rational numbers. Each arithmetic method takes as parameter the right operand of the operation. The left operand of the operation is always the rational number of which the method is a member. \paragraph{Private members.} The implementation of rational numbers defines a private method \verb@gcd@ which computes the greatest common denominator of two integers, as well as a private field \verb@g@ which contains the \verb@gcd@ of the constructor arguments. These members are inaccessible outside class \verb@Rational@. They are used in the implementation of the class to eliminate common factors in the constructor arguments in order to ensure that nominator and denominator are always in normalized form. \paragraph{Creating and Accessing Objects.} As an example of how rational numbers can be used, here's a program that prints the sum of all numbers $1/i$ where $i$ ranges from 1 to 10. \begin{verbatim} var i = 1; var x = Rational(0, 1); while (i <= 10) { x = x + Rational(1,i); i = i + 1; } System.out.println(x.numer + "/" + x.denom); \end{verbatim} The \verb@+@ operation converts both its operands to strings and returns the concatenation of the result strings. It thus corresponds to \verb@+@ in Java. \paragraph{Inheritance and Overriding.} Every class in Scala has a superclass which it extends. Excepted is only the root class \verb@Object@, which does not have a superclass, and which is indirectly extended by every other class. If a class does not mention a superclass in its definition, the root class \verb@Object@ is implicitly assumed. For instance, class \verb@Rational@ could equivalently be defined as \begin{verbatim} class Rational(n: int, d: int) extends Object { ... // as before } \end{verbatim} A class inherits all members from its superclass. It may also redefine (or: {\em override}) some inherited members. For instance, class \verb@Object@ defines a method \verb@toString@ which returns a representation of the object as a string: \begin{verbatim} class Object { ... def toString(): String = ... } \end{verbatim} The implementation of \verb@toString@ in \verb@Object@ forms a string consisting of the object's class name and a number. It makes sense to redefine this method for objects that are rational numbers: \begin{verbatim} class Rational(n: int, d: int) extends Object { ... // as before override def toString() = numer + "/" + denom; } \end{verbatim} Note that, unlike in Java, redefining definitions need to be preceded by an \verb@override@ modifier. If class $A$ extends class $B$, then objects of type $A$ may be used wherever objects of type $B$ are expected. We say in this case that type $A$ {\em conforms} to type $B$. For instance, \verb@Rational@ conforms to \verb@Object@, so it is legal to assign a \verb@Rational@ value to a variable of type \verb@Object@: \begin{verbatim} var x: Object = new Rational(1,2); \end{verbatim} \paragraph{Parameterless Methods.} %Also unlike in Java, methods in Scala do not necessarily take a %parameter list. An example is \verb@toString@; the method is invoked %by simply mentioning its name. For instance: %\begin{verbatim} %val r = new Rational(1,2); %System.out.println(r.toString()); // prints``1/2'' %\end{verbatim} Also unlike in Java, methods in Scala do not necessarily take a parameter list. An example is the \verb@square@ method below. This method is invoked by simply mentioning its name. \begin{verbatim} class Rational(n: int, d: int) extends Object { ... // as before def square = Rational(numer*numer, denom*denom); } val r = new Rational(3,4); System.out.println(r.square); // prints``9/16'' \end{verbatim} That is, parameterless methods are accessed just as value fields such as \verb@numer@ are. The difference between values and parameterless methods lies in their definition. The right-hand side of a value is evaluated when the object is created, and the value does not change afterwards. A right-hand side of a parameterless method, on the other hand, is evaluated each time the method is called. The uniform access of fields and parameterless methods gives increased flexibility for the implementer of a class. Often, a field in one version of a class becomes a computed value in the next version. Uniform access ensures that clients do not have to be rewritten because of that change. \paragraph{Abstract Classes} Consider the task of writing a class for sets of integer numbers with two operations, \verb@incl@ and \verb@contains@. \verb@(s incl x)@ should return a new set which contains the element \verb@x@ togther with all the elements of set \verb@s@. \verb@(s contains x)@ should return true if the set \verb@s@ contains the element \verb@x@, and should return \verb@false@ otherwise. The interface of such sets is given by: \begin{verbatim} abstract class IntSet { def incl(x: int): IntSet; def contains(x: int): boolean; } \end{verbatim} \verb@IntSet@ is labeled as an \emph{abstract class}. This has two consequences. First, abstract classes may have {\em deferred} members which are declared but which do not have an implementation. In our case, both \verb@incl@ and \verb@contains@ are such members. Second, because an abstract class might have unimplemented members, no objects of that class may be created using \verb@new@. By contrast, an abstract class may be used as a base class of some other class, which implements the deferred members. \paragraph{Traits.} Instead of ``\verb@abstract class@ one also often uses the keyword \verb@trait@ in Scala. A trait is an abstract class with no state, no constructor arguments, and no side effects during object initialization. Since \verb@IntSet@'s fall in this category, one can alternatively define them as traits: \begin{verbatim} trait IntSet { def incl(x: int): IntSet; def contains(x: int): boolean; } \end{verbatim} A trait corresponds to an interface in Java, except that a trait can also define implemented methods. \paragraph{Implementing Abstract Classes} Let's say, we plan to implement sets as binary trees. There are two possible forms of trees. A tree for the empty set, and a tree consisting of an integer and two subtrees. Here are their implementations. \begin{verbatim} class Empty extends IntSet { def contains(x: int): boolean = false; def incl(x: int): IntSet = new NonEmpty(x, new Empty, new Empty); } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} class NonEmpty(elem:int, left:IntSet, right:IntSet) extends IntSet { def contains(x: int): boolean = if (x < elem) left contains x else if (x > elem) right contains x else true; def incl(x: int): IntSet = if (x < elem) new NonEmpty(elem, left incl x, right) else if (x > elem) new NonEmpty(elem, left, right incl x) else this; } \end{verbatim} Both \verb@Empty@ and \verb@NonEmpty@ extend class \verb@IntSet@. This implies that types \verb@Empty@ and \verb@NonEmpty@ conform to type \verb@IntSet@ -- a value of type \verb@Empty@ or \verb@NonEmpty@ may be used wherever a value of type \verb@IntSet@ is required. \exercise Write methods \verb@union@ and \verb@intersection@ to form the union and intersection between two sets. \exercise Add a method \begin{verbatim} def excl(x: int) \end{verbatim} to return the given set without the element \verb@x@. To accomplish this, it is useful to also implement a test method \begin{verbatim} def isEmpty: boolean \end{verbatim} for sets. \paragraph{Dynamic Binding} Object-oriented languages (Scala included) use \emph{dynamic dispatch} for method invocations. That is, the code invoked for a method call depends on the run-time type of the object which contains the method. For example, consider the expression \verb@s contains 7@ where \verb@s@ is a value of declared type \verb@s: IntSet@. Which code for \verb@contains@ is executed depends on the type of value of \verb@s@ at run-time. If it is an \verb@Empty@ value, it is the implementation of \verb@contains@ in class \verb@Empty@ that is executed, and analogously for \verb@NonEmpty@ values. This behavior is a direct consequence of our substitution model of evaluation. For instance, \begin{verbatim} (new Empty).contains(7) -> $\rewriteby{by replacing {\sl contains} by its body in class {\sl Empty}}$ false \end{verbatim} Or, \begin{verbatim} new NonEmpty(7, new Empty, new Empty).contains(1) -> $\rewriteby{by replacing {\sl contains} by its body in class {\sl NonEmpty}}$ if (1 < 7) new Empty contains 1 else if (1 > 7) new Empty contains 1 else true -> $\rewriteby{by rewriting the conditional}$ new Empty contains 1 -> $\rewriteby{by replacing {\sl contains} by its body in class {\sl Empty}}$ false . \end{verbatim} Dynamic method dispatch is analogous to higher-order function calls. In both cases, the identity of code to be executed is known only at run-time. This similarity is not just superficial. Indeed, Scala represents every function value as an object (see Section~\ref{sec:funs-are-objects}). \paragraph{Objects} In the previous implementation of integer sets, empty sets were expressed with \verb@new Empty@; so a new object was created every time an empty set value was required. We could have avoided unnecessary object creations by defining a value \verb@empty@ once and then using this value instead of every occurrence of \verb@new Empty@. E.g. \begin{verbatim} val empty = new Empty; \end{verbatim} One problem with this approach is that a value definition such as the one above is not a legal top-level definition in Scala; it has to be part of another class or object. Also, the definition of class \verb@Empty@ now seems a bit of an overkill -- why define a class of objects, if we are only interested in a single object of this class? A more direct approach is to use an {\em object definition}. Here is a more streamlined alternative definition of the empty set: \begin{verbatim} object empty extends IntSet { def contains(x: int): boolean = false; def incl(x: int): IntSet = new NonEmpty(x, empty, empty); } \end{verbatim} The syntax of an object definition follows the syntax of a class definition; it has an optional extends clause as well as an optional body. As is the case for classes, the extends clause defines inherited members of the object whereas the body defines overriding or new members. However, an object definition defines a single object only; it is not possible to create other objects with the same structure using \verb@new@. Therefore, object definitions also lack constructor parameters, which might be present in class definitions. Object definitions can appear anywhere in a Scala program; including at top-level. Since there is no fixed execution order of top-level entities in Scala, one might ask exactly when the object defined by an object definition is created and initialized. The answer is that the object is created the first time one of its members is accessed. This strategy is called {\em lazy evaluation}. \paragraph{Standard Classes} Scala is a pure object-oriented language. This means that every value in Scala can be regarded as an object. In fact, even primitive types such as \verb@int@ or \verb@boolean@ are not treated specially. They are defined as type aliases of Scala classes in module \verb@Predef@: \begin{verbatim} type boolean = scala.Boolean; type int = scala.Int; type long = scala.Long; ... \end{verbatim} For efficiency, the compiler usually represents values of type \verb@scala.Int@ by 32 bit integers, values of type \verb@scala.Boolean@ by Java's booleans, etc. But it converts these specialized representations to objects when required, for instance when a primitive \verb@int@ value is passed to a function that with a parameter of type \verb@Object@. Hence, the special representation of primitive values is just an optimization, it does not change the meaning of a program. Here is a specification of class \verb@Boolean@. \begin{verbatim} package scala; trait Boolean { def && (def x: Boolean)\=: Boolean; def || (def x: Boolean)\>: Boolean; def ! \>: Boolean; def == (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean def != (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean def < (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean def > (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean def <= (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean def >= (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean } \end{verbatim} Booleans can be defined using only classes and objects, without reference to a built-in type of booleans or numbers. A possible implementation of class \verb@Boolean@ is given below. This is not the actual implementation in the standard Scala library. For efficiency reasons the standard implementation is built from built-in booleans. \begin{verbatim} package scala; trait Boolean { def ifThenElse(def thenpart: Boolean, def elsepart: Boolean) def && (def x: Boolean)\=: Boolean = ifThenElse(x, false); def || (def x: Boolean)\>: Boolean = ifThenElse(true, x); def ! \>: Boolean = ifThenElse(false, true); def == (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean = ifThenElse(x, x.!); def != (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean = ifThenElse(x.!, x); def < (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean = ifThenElse(false, x); def > (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean = ifThenElse(x.!, false); def <= (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean = ifThenElse(x, true); def >= (x: Boolean)\>: Boolean = ifThenElse(true, x.!); } object True extends Boolean \={ def ifThenElse(def t: Boolean, def e: Boolean) = t } object False extends Boolean \>{ def ifThenElse(def t: Boolean, def e: Boolean) = e } \end{verbatim} Here is a partial specification of class \verb@Int@. \begin{verbatim} package scala; trait Int extends Long { def + (that: Double): Double; def + (that: Float): Float; def + (that: Long): Long; def + (that: Int): Int; \=/* analogous for -, *, /, % */ def << (cnt: Int): Int; \>/* analogous for >>, >>> */ def & (that: Long): Long; def & (that: Int): Int; \>/* analogous for |, ^ */ def == (that: Double): Boolean; def == (that: Float): Boolean; def == (that: Long): Boolean; \> /* analogous for !=, <, >, <=, >= */ } \end{verbatim} Class \verb@Int@ can in principle also be implemented using just objects and classes, without reference to a built in type of integers. To see how, we consider a slightly simpler problem, namely how to implement a type \verb@Nat@ of natural (i.e. non-negative) numbers. Here is the definition of a trait \verb@Nat@: \begin{verbatim} trait Nat { def isZero: Boolean; def predecessor: Nat; def successor: Nat; def + (that: Nat): Nat; def - (that: Nat): Nat; } \end{verbatim} To implement the operations of class \verb@Nat@, we define a subobject \verb@Zero@ and a subclass \verb@Succ@ (for successor). Each number \verb@N@ is represented as \verb@N@ applications of the \verb@Succ@ constructor to \verb@Zero@: \[ \underbrace{\mbox{\sl new Succ( ... new Succ}}_{\mbox{$N$ times}}\mbox{\sl (Zero) ... )} \] The implementation of the \verb@Zero@ object is straightforward: \begin{verbatim} object Zero extends Nat { def isZero: Boolean = true; def predecessor: Nat = error("negative number"); def successor: Nat = new Succ(Zero); def + (that: Nat): Nat = that; def - (that: Nat): Nat = if (that.isZero) Zero else error("negative number") } \end{verbatim} The implementation of the predecessor and subtraction functions on \verb@Zero@ contains a call to the predefined \verb@error@ function. This function aborts the program with the given error message. Here is the implementation of the successor class: \begin{verbatim} class Succ(x: Nat) extends Nat { def isZero: Boolean = false; def predecessor: Nat = x; def successor: Nat = new Succ(this); def + (that: Nat): Nat = x.+(that.successor); def - (that: Nat): Nat = x.-(that.predecessor) } \end{verbatim} Note the implementation of method \verb@successor@. To create the successor of a number, we need to pass the object itself as an argument to the \verb@Succ@ constructor. The object itself is referenced by the reserved name \verb@this@. The implementations of \verb@+@ and \verb@-@ each contain a recursive call with the constructor argument as receiver. The recursion will terminate once the receiver is the \verb@Zero@ object (which is guaranteed to happen eventually from the way numbers are formed). \exercise Write an implementation \verb@Integer@ of integer numbers The implementation should support all operations of class \verb@Nat@ while adding two methods \begin{verbatim} def isPositive: Boolean def negate: Integer \end{verbatim} The first method should return \verb@true@ if the number is positive. The second method should negate the number. Do not use any of Scala's standard numeric classes in your implementation. (Hint: There are two possible ways to implement \verb@Integer@. One can either make use the existing implementation of \verb@Nat@, representing an integer as a natural number and a sign. Or one can generalize the given implementation of \verb@Nat@ to \verb@Integer@, using the three subclasses \verb@Zero@ for 0, \verb@Succ@ for positive numbers and \verb@Pred@ for negative numbers.) \paragraph{Language Elements Introduced In This Chapter} \paragraph{Types:} \begin{verbatim} Type \= = ... | ident \end{verbatim} Types can now be arbitrary identifiers which represent classes. \paragraph{Expressions:} \begin{verbatim} Expr \= = ... | Expr `.' ident | new Expr | this \end{verbatim} An expression can now be an object creation, or a selection \verb@E.m@ of a member \verb@m@ from an object-valued expression \verb@E@, or it can be the reserved name \verb@this@. \paragraph{Definitions and Declarations:} \begin{verbatim} Def \= = \=FunDef | ValDef | ClassDef | TraitDef | ObjectDef ClassDef \> = \>[abstract] class ident [`(' [Parameters] `)'] \> \>[extends Expr] [`{' {TemplateDef} `}'] TraitDef \> = \>trait ident [extends Expr] [`{' {TemplateDef} `}'] ObjectDef \> = \>object ident [extends Expr] [`{' {ObjectDef} `}'] TemplateDef \> = \>[Modifier] (Def | Dcl) ObjectDef \> = \>[Modifier] Def Modifier \> = \>private | override Dcl \> = \>FunDcl | ValDcl FunDcl \> = \>def ident {`(' [Parameters] `)'} `:' Type ValDcl \> = \>val ident `:' Type \end{verbatim} A definition can now be a class, trait or object definition such as \begin{verbatim} class C(params) extends B { defs } trait T extends B { defs } object O extends B { defs } \end{verbatim} The definitions \verb@defs@ in a class, trait or object may be preceded by modifiers \verb@private@ or \verb@override@. Abstract classes and traits may also contain declarations. These introduce {\em deferred} functions or values with their types, but do not give an implementation. Deferred members have to be implemented in subclasses before objects of an abstract class or trait can be created. \chapter{Case Classes and Pattern Matching} Say, we want to write an interpreter for arithmetic expressions. To keep things simple initially, we restrict ourselves to just numbers and \verb@+@ operations. Such expressions can be represented as a class hierarchy, with an abstract base class \verb@Expr@ as the root, and two subclasses \verb@Number@ and \verb@Sum@. Then, an expression \verb@1 + (3 + 7)@ would be represented as \begin{verbatim} new Sum(new Number(1), new Sum(new Number(3), new Number(7))) \end{verbatim} Now, an evaluator of an expression like this needs to know of what form it is (either \verb@Sum@ or \verb@Number@) and also needs to access the components of the expression. The following implementation provides all necessary methods. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Expr { def isNumber: boolean; def isSum: boolean; def numValue: int; def leftOp: Expr; def rightOp: Expr; } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} class Number(n: int) extends Expr { def isNumber: boolean = true; def isSum: boolean = false; def numValue: int = n; def leftOp: Expr = error("Number.leftOp"); def rightOp: Expr = error("Number.rightOp"); } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} class Sum(e1: Expr, e2: Expr) extends Expr { def isNumber: boolean = false; def isSum: boolean = true; def numValue: int = error("Sum.numValue"); def leftOp: Expr = e1; def rightOp: Expr = e2;} \end{verbatim} With these classification and access methods, writing an evaluator function is simple: \begin{verbatim} def eval(e: Expr): int = { if (e.isNumber) e.numValue else if (e.isSum) eval(e.leftOp) + eval(e.rightOp) else error("unrecognized expression kind") } \end{verbatim} However, defining all these methods in classes \verb@Sum@ and \verb@Number@ is rather tedious. Furthermore, the problem becomes worse when we want to add new forms of expressions. For instance, consider adding a new expression form \verb@Prod@ for products. Not only do we have to implement a new class \verb@Prod@, with all previous classification and access methods; we also have to introduce a new abstract method \verb@isProduct@ in class \verb@Expr@ and implement that method in subclasses \verb@Number@, \verb@Sum@, and \verb@Prod@. Having to modify existing code when a system grows is always problematic, since it introduces versioning and maintenance problems. The promise of object-oriented programming is that such modifications should be unnecessary, because they can be avoided by re-using existing, unmodified code through inheritance. Indeed, a more object-oriented decomposition of our problem solves the problem. The idea is to make the ``high-level'' operation \verb@eval@ a method of each expression class, instead of implementing it as a function outside the expression class hierarchy, as we have done before. Because \verb@eval@ is now a member of all expression nodes, all classification and access methods become superfluous, and the implementation is simplified considerably: \begin{verbatim} abstract class Expr { def eval: int; } class Number(n: int) extends Expr { def eval: int = n; } class Sum(e1: Expr, e2: Expr) extends Expr { def eval: int = e1.eval + e2.eval; } \end{verbatim} Furthermore, adding a new \verb@Prod@ class does not entail any changes to existing code: \begin{verbatim} class Prod(e1: Expr, e2: Expr) extends Expr { def eval: int = e1.eval * e2.eval; } \end{verbatim} The conclusion we can draw from this example is that object-oriented decomposition is the technique of choice for constructing systems that should be extensible with new types of data. But there is also another possible way we might want to extend the expression example. We might want to add new {\em operations} on expressions. For instance, we might want to add an operation that pretty-prints an expression tree to standard output. If we have defined all classification and access methods, such an operation can easily be written as an external function. Here is an implementation: \begin{verbatim} def print(e: Expr): unit = if (e.isNumber) System.out.print(e.numValue) else if (e.isSum) { System.out.print("("); print(e.leftOp); System.out.print("+"); print(e.rightOp); System.out.print(")"); } else error("unrecognized expression kind"); \end{verbatim} However, if we had opted for an object-oriented decomposition of expressions, we would need to add a new \verb@print@ method to each class: \begin{verbatim} abstract class Expr { def eval: int; def print: unit; } class Number(n: int) extends Expr { def eval: int = n; def print: unit = System.out.print(n); } class Sum(e1: Expr, e2: Expr) extends Expr { def eval: int = e1.eval + e2.eval; def print: unit = { System.out.print("("); print(e1); System.out.print("+"); print(e2); System.out.print(")"); } \end{verbatim} Hence, classical object-oriented decomposition requires modification of all existing classes when a system is extended with new operations. As yet another way we might want to extend the interpreter, consider expression simplification. For instance, we might want to write a function which rewrites expressions of the form \verb@a * b + a * c@ to \verb@a * (b + c)@. This operation requires inspection of more than a single node of the expression tree at the same time. Hence, it cannot be implemented by a method in each expression kind, unless that method can also inspect other nodes. So we are forced to have classification and access methods in this case. This seems to bring us back to square one, with all the problems of verbosity and extensibility. Taking a closer look, one observers that the only purpose of the classification and access functions is to {\em reverse} the data construction process. They let us determine, first, which sub-class of an abstract base class was used and, second, what were the constructor arguments. Since this situation is quite common, Scala has a way to automate it with case classes. \paragraph{Case Classes.} A {\em case class} is defined like a normal class, except that the definition is prefixed with the modifier \verb@case@. For instance, the definitions \begin{verbatim} abstract class Expr; case class Number(n: int) extends Expr; case class Sum(e1: Expr, e2: Expr) extends Expr; \end{verbatim} introduce \verb@Number@ and \verb@Sum@ as case classes. The \verb@case@ modifier in front of a class definition has the following effects. \begin{enumerate} \item Case classes implicitly come with a constructor function, with the same name as the class. In our example, the two functions \begin{verbatim} def Number(n: int) = new Number(n); def Sum(e1: Expr, e2: Expr) = new Sum(e1, e2); \end{verbatim} would be added. Hence, one can now construct expression trees a bit more concisely, as in \begin{verbatim} Sum(Sum(Number(1), Number(2)), Number(3)) \end{verbatim} \item Case classes implicity come with implementations of methods \verb@toString@, \verb@equals@ and \verb@hashCode@, which override the methods with the same name in class \verb@Object@. The implementation of these methods takes in each case the structure of a member of a case class into account. The \verb@toString@ method represents an expression tree the way it was constructed. So, \begin{verbatim} Sum(Sum(Number(1), Number(2)), Number(3)) \end{verbatim} would be converted to exactly that string, whereas he default implementation in class \verb@Object@ would return a string consisting of the outermost constructor name \verb@Sum@ and a number. The \verb@equals@ methods treats two case members of a case class as equal if they have been constructed with the same constructor and with arguments which are themselves pairwise equal. This also affects the implementation of \verb@==@ and \verb@!=@, which are implemented in terms of \verb@equals@ in Scala. So, \begin{verbatim} Sum(Number(1), Number(2)) == Sum(Number(1), Number(2)) \end{verbatim} will yield \verb@true@. If \verb@Sum@ or \verb@Number@ were not case classes, the same expression would be \verb@false@, since the standard implementation of \verb@equals@ in class \verb@Object@ always treats objects created by different constructor calls as being different. The \verb@hashCode@ method follows the same principle as other two methods. It computes a hash code from the case class constructor name and the hash codes of the constructor arguments, instead of from the object's address, which is what the as the default implementation of \verb@hashCode@ does. \item Case classes implicity come with nullary accessor methods which retrieve the constructor arguments. In our example, \verb@Number@ would obtain an accessor method \begin{verbatim} def n: int \end{verbatim} which returns the constructor parameter \verb@n@, whereas \verb@Sum@ would obtain two accessor methods \begin{verbatim} def e1: Expr, e2: Expr; \end{verbatim} Hence, if for a value \verb@s@ of type \verb@Sum@, say, one can now write \verb@s.e1@, to access the left operand. However, for a value \verb@e@ of type \verb@Expr@, the term \verb@e.e1@ would be illegal since \verb@e1@ is defined in \verb@Sum@; it is not a member of the base class \verb@Expr@. So, how do we determine the constructor and access constructor arguments for values whose static type is the base class \verb@Expr@? This is solved by the fourth and final particularity of case classes. \item Case classes allow the constructions of {\em patterns} which refer to the case class constructor. \end{enumerate} \paragraph{Pattern Matching.} Pattern matching is a generalization of C or Java's \verb@switch@ statement to class hierarchies. Instead of a \verb@switch@ statement, there is a standard method \verb@match@, which is defined in Scala's root class \verb@Any@, and therefore is available for all objects. The \verb@match@ method takes as argument a number of cases. For instance, here is an implementation of \verb@eval@ using pattern matching. \begin{verbatim} def eval(e: Expr): int = e match { case Number(x) => x case Sum(l, r) => eval(l) + eval(r) } \end{verbatim} In this example, there are two cases. Each case associates a pattern with an expression. Patterns are matched against the selector values \verb@e@. The first pattern in our example, \verb@Number(n)@, matches all values of the form \verb@Number(v)@, where \verb@v@ is an arbitrary value. In that case, the {\em pattern variable} \verb@n@ is bound to the value \verb@v@. Similarly, the pattern \verb@Sum(l, r)@ matches all selector values of form \verb@Sum(v$_1$, v$_2$)@ and binds the pattern variables \verb@l@ and \verb@r@ to \verb@v$_1$@ and \verb@v$_2$@, respectively. In general, patterns are built from \begin{itemize} \item Case class constructors, e.g. \verb@Number@, \verb@Sum@, whose arguments are again patterns, \item pattern variables, e.g. \verb@n@, \verb@e1@, \verb@e2@, \item the ``wildcard'' pattern \verb@_@, \item constants, e.g. \verb@1@, \verb@true@, "abc", \verb@MAXINT@. \end{itemize} Pattern variables always start with a lower-case letter, so that they can be distinguished from constant identifiers, which start with an upper case letter. The only exceptions to that rule are the reserved words \verb@null@, \verb@true@, \verb@false@, which are treated as constants. Each variable name may occur only once in a pattern. For instance, \verb@Sum(x, x)@ would be illegal as a pattern, since \verb@x@ occurs twice in it. \paragraph{Meaning of Pattern Matching.} A pattern matching expression \begin{verbatim} e.match { case p$_1$ => e$_1$ ... case p$_n$ => e$_n$ } \end{verbatim} matches the patterns $p_1 \commadots p_n$ in the order they are written against the selector value \verb@e@. \begin{itemize} \item A constructor pattern $C(p_1 \commadots p_n)$ matches all values that are of type \verb@C@ (or a subtype thereof) and that have been constructed with \verb@C@-arguments matching patterns $p_1 \commadots p_n$. \item A variable pattern \verb@x@ matches any value and binds the variable name to that value. \item The wildcard pattern `\verb@_@' matches any value but does not bind a name to that value. \item A constant pattern \verb@C@ matches a value which is equal (in terms of \verb@==@) to \verb@C@. \end{itemize} The pattern matching expression rewrites to the right-hand-side of the first case whose pattern matches the selector value. References to pattern variables are replaced by corresponding constructor arguments. If none of the patterns matches, the pattern matching expression is aborted with a \verb@MatchError@ exception. \example Our substitution model of program evaluation extends quite naturally to pattern matching, For instance, here is how \verb@eval@ applied to a simple expression is re-written: \begin{verbatim} \= eval(Sum(Number(1), Number(2))) -> \> $\mbox{\tab\tab\rm(by rewriting the application)}$ \> Sum(Number(1), Number(2)) match { \> case Number(n) => n \> case Sum(e1, e2) => eval(e1) + eval(e2) \> } -> \> $\mbox{\tab\tab\rm(by rewriting the pattern match)}$ \> eval(Number(1)) + eval(Number(2)) -> \> $\mbox{\tab\tab\rm(by rewriting the first application)}$ \> Number(1) match { \> case Number(n) => n \> case Sum(e1, e2) => eval(e1) + eval(e2) \> } + eval(Number(2)) -> \> $\mbox{\tab\tab\rm(by rewriting the pattern match)}$ \> 1 + eval(Number(2)) ->$^*$ \> 1 + 2 -> 3 \end{verbatim} \paragraph{Pattern Matching and Methods.} In the previous example, we have used pattern matching in a function which was defined outside the class hierarchy over which it matches. Of course, it is also possible to define a pattern matching function in that class hierarchy itself. For instance, we could have defined \verb@eval@ is a method of the base class \verb@Expr@, and still have used pattern matching in its implementation: \begin{verbatim} abstract class Expr { def eval: int = this match { case Number(n) => n case Sum(e1, e2) => e1.eval + e2.eval } } \end{verbatim} \exercise Consider the following three classes representing trees of integers. These classes can be seen as an alternative representation of \verb@IntSet@: \begin{verbatim} trait IntTree; case class Empty extends IntTree; case class Node(elem: int, left: IntTree, right: IntTree) extends IntTree; \end{verbatim} Complete the following implementations of function \verb@contains@ and \verb@insert@ for \verb@IntTree@'s. \begin{verbatim} def contains(t: IntTree, v: int): boolean = t match { ... ... } def insert(t: IntTree, v: int): IntTree = t match { ... ... } \end{verbatim} \subsection*{Tuples} Sometimes, a function needs to return more than one result. For instance, take the function \verb@divmod@ which returns the quotient and rest of two given integer arguments. Of course, one can define a class to hold the two results of \verb@divmod@, as in: \begin{verbatim} case class TwoInts(first: int, second: int); def divmod(x: int, y: int): TwoInts = new TwoInts(x / y, x % y) \end{verbatim} However, having to define a new class for every possible pair of result types is very tedious. It should also be unneccessary because all such classes have exactly the same structure. In Scala, the repetition can be avoided by defining a {\em generic class}: \begin{verbatim} case class Pair[+a, +b](first: a, second: b); def divmod(x: int, y: int): Pair[int, int] = new Pair[Int, Int](x / y, x % y) \end{verbatim} In this example, \verb@[a, b]@ are {\em type parameters} of class \verb@Pair@. In a \verb@Pair@ type, these parameters are replaced by concrete types. For instance, \verb@Pair[int, String]@ represents the type of pairs with \verb@int@ and \verb@String@ elements. Type arguments can be omitted in constructors, if the correct type can be inferred from the other constructor arguments or the constructor's expected result type. In our example, we could have omitted the type arguments in the body of \verb@divmod@, because they can be deduced from the two value parameters of type \verb@int@: \begin{verbatim} def divmod(x: int, y: int): Pair[int, int] = new Pair(x / y, x % y) \end{verbatim} Type parameters are never used in patterns. For instance, here is an expression in which \verb@divmod@'s result is decomposed: \begin{verbatim} divmod(x, y) match { case Pair(n, d) => System.out.println("quotient: " + n + ", rest: " + d); } \end{verbatim} The type parameters in class \verb@Pair@ are each prefixed by a \verb@+@ sign. This indicates that \verb@Pair@s are {\em covariant}. That is, if types \verb@T$_1$@ and \verb@T$_2$@ are subtypes of types \verb@S$_1$@ and \verb@S$_2$@, then \verb@Pair[T$_1$, T$_2$]@ is a subtype of \verb@Pair[S$_1$, S$_2$]@. For instance, \verb@Pair[String, int]@ is a subtype of \verb@Pair[Object, long]@. If the \verb@+@-annotation was missing, the type constructor would be treated as being non-variant. That is, pairs with different element types would never be in a subtype relation. Besides, \verb@+@, there is also a prefix \verb@-@ for contra-variant type constructors. The precise rules that for variance annotations are given in Chapter~\ref{sec:variance}. The idea of pairs is generalized in Scala to tuples of greater arity. There is a predefined case class \verb@Tuple$_n$@ for every \verb@n@ from \verb@2@ to \verb@9@ in Scala's standard library. The definitions all follow the template \begin{verbatim} case class Tuple$_n$[+a$_1$, ..., +a$_n$](_1: a$_1$, ..., _n: a$_n$); \end{verbatim} Class \verb@Pair@ (as well as class \verb@Triple@) are also predefined, but not as classes of their own. Instead \verb@Pair@ is an alias of \verb@Tuple2@ and \verb@Triple@ is an alias of \verb@Tuple3@. \chapter{Lists} The list is an important data structure in many Scala programs. A list with elements \verb@x$_1$, ..., x$_n$@ is written \verb@List(x$_1$, ..., x$_n$)@. Examples are: \begin{verbatim} val fruit \= = List("apples", "oranges", "pears"); val nums \> = List(1, 2, 3, 4); val diag3 \> = List(List(1, 0, 0), List(0, 1, 0), List(0, 0, 1)); val empty \> = List(); \end{verbatim} Lists are similar to arrays in languages such as C or Java, but there are also three important differences. First, lists are immutable. That is, elements of a list can not be changed by assignment. Second, lists have a recursive structure, whereas arrays are flat. Third, lists support a much richer set of operations than arrays usually do. \paragraph{The list type.} Like arrays, lists are {\em homogeneous}. That is, the elements of a list all have the same type. The type of a list with elements of type \verb@T@ is written \verb@List[T]@. (Compare to \verb@[]T@ for the type of arrays of type \verb@T@ in C or Java.). Therefore, the definitions of list values above can be annotated with types as follows. \begin{verbatim} val fruit \= : List[String] \= = List("apples", "oranges", "pears"); val nums \> : List[int] \> = List(1, 2, 3, 4); val diag3 \> : List[List[int]] \> = List(List(1, 0, 0), List(0, 1, 0), List(0, 0, 1)); val empty \> : List[int] \> = List(); \end{verbatim} \paragraph{List constructors.} All lists are built from two more fundamental constructors, \verb@Nil@ and \verb@::@ (pronounced ``cons''). \verb@Nil@ represents an empty list. The infix operator \verb@::@ expresses list extension. That is, \verb@x :: xs@ represents a list whose first element is \verb@x@, which is followed by (the elements of) list \verb@xs@. Hence, the list values above could also have been defined as follows (in fact their previous definition is simply syntactic sugar for the definitions below). \begin{verbatim} val fruit \= = "apples" :: ("oranges" :: ("pears" :: Nil)); val nums \> = 1 :: (2 :: (3 :: (4 :: Nil))); val diag3 \> = \= (1 :: (0 :: (0 :: Nil))) :: \> \> (0 :: (1 :: (0 :: Nil))) :: \> \> (0 :: (0 :: (1 :: Nil))) :: Nil; val empty \> = Nil; \end{verbatim} The `\verb@::@' operation associates to the right: \verb@A :: B :: C@ is interpreted as \verb@A :: (B :: C)@. Therefore, we can drop the parentheses in the definitions above. For instance, we can write shorter \begin{verbatim} val nums = 1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: Nil; \end{verbatim} \paragraph{Basic operations on lists.} All operations on lists can be expressed in terms of the following three: \begin{tabular}{ll} \verb@head@ & returns the first element of a list,\\ \verb@tail@ & returns the list consisting of all elements except the\\ first element, \verb@isEmpty@ & returns \verb@true@ iff the list is empty \end{tabular} These operations are defined as methods of list objects. So we invoke them by selecting from the list that's operated on. Examples: \begin{verbatim} empty.isEmpty \= = true fruit.isEmpty \> = false fruit.head \> = "apples" fruit.tail.head \> = "oranges" diag3.head \> = List(1, 0, 0) \end{verbatim} Both \verb@head@ and \verb@tail@ are only defined for non-empty lists. When selected from an empty list, they cause an error instead. As an example of how lists can be processed, consider sorting the elements of a list of numbers into ascending order. One simple way to do so is {\em insertion sort}, which works as follows: To sort a non-empty list with first element \verb@x@ and rest \verb@xs@, sort the remainder \verb@xs@ and insert the element \verb@x@ at the right position in the result. Sorting an empty list will of course yield the empty list. Expressed as Scala code: \begin{verbatim} def isort(xs: List[int]): List[int] = if (xs.isEmpty) Nil else insert(xs.head, isort(xs.tail)) \end{verbatim} \exercise Provide an implementation of the missing function \verb@insert@. \paragraph{List patterns.} In fact, \verb@::@ is defined defined as a case class in Scala's standard library. Hence, it is possible to decompose lists by pattern matching, using patterns composed from the \verb@Nil@ and \verb@::@ constructors. For instance, \verb@isort@ can be written alternatively as follows. \begin{verbatim} def isort(xs: List[int]): List[int] = xs match { case List() => List() case x :: xs1 => insert(x, isort(xs1)) } \end{verbatim} where \begin{verbatim} def insert(x: int, xs: List[int]): List[int] = xs match { case List() => List(x) case y :: ys => if (x <= y) x :: xs else y :: insert(x, ys) } \end{verbatim} \paragraph{Polymorphic functions.} Consider the problem of writing a function \verb@concat@, which takes a list of element lists as arguments. The result of \verb@concat@ should be the concatenation of all element lists into a single list. When trying to define such a function, we observe that we need to give a type for the list elements: \begin{verbatim} def concat(xss: List[List[ ?? ]]): List[ ?? ] = ... \end{verbatim} Clearly, one could replace \verb@??@ by \verb@int@, say, to obtain a function \verb@concat@ that works on lists of lists of integers. But then the same function could not be applied to other kinds of lists. This is a pity, since clearly the same algorithm of list concatenation can work for lists of any element type. Parameterization lets us generalize from a specific instance of a problem to a more general one. So far, we have used parameterization only for values, but it is available also for types. To arrive at a general version of \verb@concat@, we equip it with a type parameter. \begin{verbatim} def concat[a](xs: List[List[a]]): List[a] = xs match { case List() => xs case List() :: yss => concat[a](yss) case (x :: xs) :: yss => x :: concat[a](xs :: yss) } \end{verbatim} Type parameters are arbitrary names; they are enclosed in brackets instead of parentheses, so that they can be easily distinguished from value parameters. Functions like \verb@concat@ that take type parameters are called {\em polymorphic}. The term comes from the Greek, where it means ``having many forms''. To apply \verb@concat@, we pass type parameters as well as value parameters to it. For instance, \begin{verbatim} val diag3 = List(List(1, 0, 0), List(0, 1, 0), List(0, 0, 1)); concat[int](diag3) \end{verbatim} yields \verb@List(1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1)@. \paragraph{Local Type Inference.} Passing type parameters such as \verb@[int]@ all the time can become tedious in applications where polymorphic functions are used a lot. Quite often, the information in a type parameter is redundant, because the correct parameter type can also be determined by inspecting the function's value parameters or expected result type. Taking \verb@concat[int](diag3)@ function as an example, we know that its value parameter is of type \verb@List[List[int]]@, so we can deduce that the type parameter must be \verb@int@. Scala has a fairly powerful type inferencer which allows one to omit type parameters to polymorphic functions and constructors in situations like these. In the example above, the \verb@int@ type parameter would have been inferred if it was not given explicitly. In fact, the same principle applies in the definition of the value \verb@diag3@. Here, type parameters have been inferred for the four calls of \verb@List@. \paragraph{Definition of class \verb@List@} Lists are not built in in Scala; they are defined by an abstract class \verb@List@, which comes with two subclasses for \verb@::@ and \verb@Nil@. In the following we present a tour through class \verb@List@. \begin{verbatim} package scala; abstract class List[+a] { \end{verbatim} \verb@List@ is an abstract class, so one cannot define elements by calling the empty \verb@List@ constructor (e.g. by \verb@new List@). The class has a type parameter \verb@a@. It is co-variant in this parameter, which means that \verb@List[S] <: List[T]@ for all types \verb@S@ and \verb@T@ such that \verb@S <: T@. The class is situated in the package \verb@scala@. This is a package containing the most important standard classes of Scala. \verb@List@ defines a number of methods, which are explained in the following. First, there are the three basic functions \verb@isEmpty@, \verb@head@, \verb@tail@. Their implementation in terms of pattern matching is straightforward: \begin{verbatim} def isEmpty: boolean = match { case Nil => true case x :: xs => false } def head: a = match { case Nil => error("Nil.head") case x :: xs => x } def tail: List[a] = match { case Nil => error("Nil.tail") case x :: xs => x } \end{verbatim} The next function computes the length of a list. \begin{verbatim} def length = match { case Nil => 0 case x :: xs => 1 + xs.length } \end{verbatim} \exercise Design a tail-recursive version of \verb@length@. The next two functions are the complements of \verb@head@ and \verb@tail@. \begin{verbatim} def last: a; def init: List[a]; \end{verbatim} \verb@xs.last@ returns the last element of list \verb@xs@, whereas \verb@xs.init@ returns all elements of \verb@xs@ except the last. Both functions have to traverse the entire list, and are thus less efficient than their \verb@head@ and \verb@tail@ analogues. Here is the implementation of \verb@last@. \begin{verbatim} def last: a = match { case Nil \==> error("Nil.last") case x :: Nil \>=> x case x :: xs \>=> xs.last } \end{verbatim} The implementation of \verb@init@ is analogous. The next three functions return a prefix of the list, or a suffix, or both. \begin{verbatim} def take(n: int): List[a] = if (n == 0 || isEmpty) Nil else head :: tail.take(n-1); def drop(n: int): List[a] = if (n == 0 || isEmpty) this else tail.drop(n-1); def split(n: int): Pair[List[a], List[a]] = if (n == 0 || isEmpty) Pair(Nil, this) else tail.split(n - 1) match { case Pair(xs, ys) => (head :: xs, ys) } \end{verbatim} \verb@(xs take n)@ returns the first \verb@n@ elements of list \verb@xs@, or the whole list, if its length is smaller than \verb@n@. \verb@(xs drop n)@ returns all elements of \verb@xs@ except the \verb@n@ first ones. Finally, \verb@(xs split n)@ returns a pair consisting of the lists resulting from \verb@xs take n@ and \verb@xs drop n@, but the call is more efficient than performing the two calls separately. The next function returns an element at a given index in a list. It is thus analogous to array subscripting. Indices start at 0. \begin{verbatim} def at(n: int): a = drop(n).head; \end{verbatim} With \verb@take@ and \verb@drop@, we can extract sublists consisting of consecutive elements of the original list. To extract the sublist $xs_m \commadots xs_{n-1}$ of a list \verb@xs@, use: \begin{verbatim} xs.drop(m).take(n - m) \end{verbatim} The next function combines two lists into a list of pairs. Given two lists \begin{verbatim} xs = List(x$_1$, ..., x$_n$) $\mbox{\rm, and}$ ys = List(y$_1$, ..., y$_n$) , \end{verbatim} \verb@xs zip ys@ constructs the list \verb@Pair(x$_1$, y$_1$), ..., Pair(x$_n$, y$_n$)@. If the two lists have different lengths, the longer one of the two is truncated. Here is the definition of \verb@zip@ -- note that it is a polymorphic method. \begin{verbatim} def zip[b](that: List[b]): List[Pair[a,b]] = if (this.isEmpty || that.isEmpty) Nil else Pair(this.head, that.head) :: (this.tail zip that.tail); \end{verbatim} Like any infix operator, \verb@::@ is also implemented as a method of an object. In this case, the object is the list that is extended. This is possible, because operators ending with a `\verb@:@' character are treated specially in Scala. All such operators are treated as methods of their right operand. E.g., \begin{verbatim} x :: y = y.::(x) \=$\mbox{\rm whereas}$ x + y = x.+(y) \end{verbatim} Note, however, that operands of a binary operation are in each case evaluated from left to right. So, if \verb@D@ and \verb@E@ are expressions with possible side-effects, \verb@D :: E@ is translated to \verb@{val x = D; E.::(x)}@ in order to maintain the left-to-right order of operand evaluation. Another difference between operators ending in a `\verb@:@' and other operators concerns their associativity. Operators ending in `\verb@:@' are right-associative, whereas other operators are left-associative. E.g., \begin{verbatim} x :: y :: z = x :: (y :: z) \=$\mbox{\rm whereas}$ x + y + z = (x + y) + z \end{verbatim} The definition of \verb@::@ as a method in class \verb@List@ is as follows: \begin{verbatim} def ::[b >: a](x: b): List[b] = new scala.::(x, this); \end{verbatim} Note that \verb@::@ is defined for all elements \verb@x@ of type \verb@B@ and lists of type \verb@List[A]@ such that the type \verb@B@ of \verb@x@ is a supertype of the list's element type \verb@A@. The result is in this case a list of \verb@B@'s. This is expressed by the type parameter \verb@b@ with lower bound \verb@a@ in the signature of \verb@::@. An operation similar to \verb@::@ is list concatenation, written `\verb@:::@'. The result of \verb@(xs ::: ys)@ is a list consisting of all elements of \verb@xs@, followed by all elements of \verb@ys@. Because it ends in a colon, \verb@:::@ is right-associative and is considered as a method of its right-hand operand. Therefore, \begin{verbatim} xs ::: ys ::: zs \= = xs ::: (ys ::: zs) \> = zs.:::(ys).:::(xs) \end{verbatim} Here is the implementation of the \verb@:::@ method: \begin{verbatim} def :::[b >: a](prefix: List[b]): List[b] = prefix match { case Nil => this case p :: ps => this.:::(ps).::(p) } \end{verbatim} \paragraph{Example: Reverse.} As another example of how to program with lists consider a list reversal. There is a method \verb@reverse@ in \verb@List@ to that effect, but let's implement it as a function outside the class. Here is a possible implementation of \verb@reverse@: \begin{verbatim} def reverse[a](xs: List[a]): List[a] = xs match { case List() => List() case x :: xs => reverse(xs) ::: List(x) } \end{verbatim} The implementation is quite simple. However, it is not very efficient. Indeed, one concatenation is executed for every element in the list. List concatenation takes time proportional to the length of its first operand. Therefore, the complexity of \verb@reverse(xs)@ is \[ n + (n - 1) + ... + 1 = n(n+1)/2 \] where $n$ is the length of \verb@xs@. Can \verb@reverse@ be implemented more efficiently? We will see later that there is exists another implementation which has only linear complexity. \paragraph{Example: Merge sort.} The insertion sort presented earlier in this chapter is simple to formulate, but also not very efficient. It's average complexity is proportional to the square of the length of the input list. We now design a program to sort the elements of a list which is more efficient than insertion sort. A good algorithm for this is {\em merge sort}, which works as follows. First, if the list has zero or one elements, it is already sorted, so one returns the list unchanged. Longer lists are split into two sub-lists, each containing about half the elements of the original list. Each sub-list is sorted by a recursive call to the sort function, and the resulting two sorted lists are then combined in a merge operation. For a general implementation of merge sort, we still have to specify the type of list elements to be sorted, as well as the function to be used for the comparison of elements. We obtain a function of maximal generality by passing these two items as parameters. This leads to the following implementation. \begin{verbatim} def msort[a](less: (a, a) => boolean)(xs: List[a]): List[a] = { val n = xs.length/2; if (n == 0) xs else { def merge(xs1: List[a], xs2: List[a]): List[a] = if (xs1.isEmpty) xs2 else if (xs2.isEmpty) xs1 else if (less(xs1.head, xs2.head)) xs1.head :: merge(xs1.tail, xs2) else xs2.head :: merge(xs1, xs2.tail); merge(msort(less)(xs take n), msort(less)(xs drop n)) } } \end{verbatim} The complexity of \verb@msort@ is $O(N;log(N))$, where $N$ is the length of the input list. To see why, note that splitting a list in two and merging two sorted lists each take time proportional to the length of the argument list(s). Each recursive call of \verb@msort@ halves the number of elements in its input, so there are $O(log(N))$ consecutive recursive calls until the base case of lists of length 1 is reached. However, for longer lists each call spawns off two further calls. Adding everything up we obtain that at each of the $O(log(N))$ call levels, every element of the original lists takes part in one split operation and in one merge operation. Hence, every call level has a total cost proportional to $O(N)$. Since there are $O(log(N))$ call levels, we obtain an overall cost of $O(N;log(N))$. That cost does not depend on the initial distribution of elements in the list, so the worst case cost is the same as the average case cost. This makes merge sort an attractive algorithm for sorting lists. Here is an example how \verb@msort@ is used. \begin{verbatim} def iless(x: int, y: int) = x < y msort(iless)(List(5, 7, 1, 3)) \end{verbatim} The definition of \verb@msort@ is curried, to make it easy to specialize it with particular comparison functions. For instance, \begin{verbatim} val intSort = msort(iless) val reverseSort = msort(x: int, y: int => x > y) \end{verbatim} \section*{Higher-Order Methods} \chapter{Computing with Streams} The previous chapters have introduced variables, assignment and stateful objects. We have seen how real-world objects that change with time can be modelled by changing the state of variables in a computation. Time changes in the real world thus are modelled by time changes in program execution. Of course, such time changes are usually stretched out or compressed, but their relative order is the same. This seems quite natural, but there is a also price to pay: Our simple and powerful substitution model for functional computation is no longer applicable once we introduce variables and assignment. Is there another way? Can we model state change in the real world using only immutable functions? Taking mathematics as a guide, the answer is clearly yes: A time-changing quantity is simply modelled by a function \verb@f(t)@ with a time parameter \verb@t@. The same can be done in computation. Instead of overwriting a variable with successive values, we represent all these values as successive elements in a list. So, a mutabel variable \verb@var x: T@ gets replaced by an immutable value \verb@val x: List[T]@. In a sense, we trade space for time -- the different values of the variable now all exit concurrently as different elements of the list. One advantage of the list-based view is that we can ``time-travel'', i.e. view several successive values of the variable at the same time. Another advantage is that we can make use of the powerful library of list processing functions, which often simplifies computation. For instance, consider the way imperative way to compute the sum of all prime numbers in an interval: \begin{verbatim} def sumPrimes(start: int, end: int): int = { var i = start; var acc = 0; while (i < end) { if (isPrime(i)) acc = acc + i; i = i + 1; } acc } \end{verbatim} Note that the variable \verb@i@ ``steps through'' all values of the interval \verb@[start .. end-1]@. %\es\bs A more functional way is to represent the list of values of variable \verb@i@ directly as \verb@range(start, end)@. Then the function can be rewritten as follows. \begin{verbatim} def sumPrimes(start: int, end: int) = sum(range(start, end) filter isPrime); \end{verbatim} No contest which program is shorter and clearer! However, the functional program is also considerably less efficient since it constructs a list of all numbers in the interval, and then another one for the prime numbers. Even worse from an efficiency point of view is the following example: To find the second prime number between \verb@1000@ and \verb@10000@: \begin{verbatim} range(1000, 10000) filter isPrime at 1 \end{verbatim} Here, the list of all numbers between \verb@1000@ and \verb@10000@ is constructed. But most of that list is never inspected! However, we can obtain efficient execution for examples like these by a trick: \begin{quote} %\red Avoid computing the tail of a sequence unless that tail is actually necessary for the computation. \end{quote} We define a new class for such sequences, which is called \verb@Stream@. Streams are created using the constant \verb@empty@ and the constructor \verb@cons@, which are both defined in module \verb@scala.Stream@. For instance, the following expression constructs a stream with elements \verb@1@ and \verb@2@: \begin{verbatim} Stream.cons(1, Stream.cons(2, Stream.empty)) \end{verbatim} As another example, here is the analogue of \verb@List.range@, but returning a stream instead of a list: \begin{verbatim} def range(start: Int, end: Int): Stream[Int] = if (start >= end) Stream.empty else Stream.cons(start, range(start + 1, end)); \end{verbatim} (This function is also defined as given above in module \verb@Stream@). Even though \verb@Stream.range@ and \verb@List.range@ look similar, their execution behavior is completely different: \verb@Stream.range@ immediately returns with a \verb@Stream@ object whose first element is \verb@start@. All other elements are computed only when they are \emph{demanded} by calling the \verb@tail@ method (which might be never at all). Streams are accessed just as lists. as for lists, the basic access methods are \verb@isEmpty@, \verb@head@ and \verb@tail@. For instance, we can print all elements of a stream as follows. \begin{verbatim} def print(xs: Stream[a]): unit = if (!xs.isEmpty) { System.out.println(xs.head); print(xs.tail) } \end{verbatim} Streams also support almost all other methods defined on lists (see below for where their methods sets differ). For instance, we can find the second prime number between \verb@1000@ and \verb@10000@ by applying methods \verb@filter@ and \verb@at@ on an interval stream: \begin{verbatim} Stream.range(1000, 10000) filter isPrime at 1 \end{verbatim} The difference to the previous list-based implementation is that now we do not needlessly construct and test for primality any numbers beyond 3. \paragraph{Consing and appending streams.} Two methods in class \verb@List@ which are not supported by class \verb@Stream@ are \verb@::@ and \verb@:::@. The reason is that these methods are dispatched on their right-hand side argument, which means that this argument needs to be evaluated before the method is called. For instance, in the case of \verb@x :: xs@ on lists, the tail \verb@xs@ needs to be evaluated before \verb@::@ can be called and the new list can be constructed. This does not work for streams, where we require that the tail of a stream should not be evaluated until it is demanded by a \verb@tail@ operation. The argument why list-append \verb@:::@ cannot be adapted to streams is analogous. Intstead of \verb@x :: xs@, one uses \verb@Stream.cons(x, xs)@ for constructing a stream with first element \verb@x@ and (unevaluated) rest \verb@xs@. Instead of \verb@xs ::: ys@, one uses the operation \verb@xs append ys@. %\redtext {Is there another way?} \bibliography{examples} \end{document} \paragrph{Higher Order Functions \bsh{Patterns of Computation over Lists} \bi \item The examples show that functions over lists often have similar structures \item We can identify several patterns of computation like \bi \item Transform every element of a list in some way. \item Extract from a list all elements satisfying a criterion. \item Combine the elements of a list using some operator. \ei \item Functional programming languages enable programmers to write general functions which implement patterns like this \item These functions are \redtext{\em higher-order functions} which get a transformation or an operator as one argument \ei \es Pairs, and tuples or greater arity are useful enough to \chapter{Generic Types and Methods} Classes in Scala can have type parameters. We demonstrate the use of type parameters with iterators as an example. An iterator is an object which traverses a sequence of values, using two abstract methods. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Iterator[a] { def hasNext: boolean; def next: a; \end{verbatim} Method \verb@next@ returns successive elements. Method \verb@hasNext@ indicates whether there are still more elements to be returned by \verb@next@. The type of the elements returned by an iterator is arbitrary. We express this by giving the class \verb@Iterator@ the type parameter \verb@a@. Type parameters are written in square brackets, in contrast to normal value parameters, which are written in parentheses. Iterators also support other methods, which are explained later. Here's an iterator which traverses an interval of integer values. \begin{verbatim} class RangeIterator(start: int, end: int) extends Iterator[int] { private var current = 0; def hasNext = current < end; def next = { val r = current; if (current < end) current = current + 1 else error("end of iterator"); r } } \end{verbatim} The superclass of \verb@RangeIterator@ is \verb@Iterator[int]@, i.e. an iterator returning integer numbers. Note that, unlike the classes we have seen so far, \verb@RangeIterator@ has internal state Here is a function that takes an iterator of arbitrary element type \verb@a@ and a procedure that maps \verb@a@-values to the trivial type \verb@unit@. It applies the given function to every value returned by the iterator. \begin{verbatim} def forall[a](i: Iterator[a])(f: a => boolean): boolean = !hasNext || { val x = next; f(x) && forall(i, f) } \end{verbatim} \verb@forEach@ can work with any type of iterator, since the iterator's element type is passed as a type parameter \verb@a@. Functions that take type parameters are called {\em polymorphic}. The term comes from Greek, where it means ``having many forms''. Finally, here is an application which uses \verb@RangeIterator@ and \verb@foreach@ to test whether a given number is prime, i.e. whether it can be divided only by 1 and itself. \begin{verbatim} def isPrime(x: int) = forall[int](new RangeIterator(2, n)) { x => x % n != 0 } \end{verbatim} As always, the actual parameters of \verb@forEach@ correspond to its formal parameters. First comes the type parameter \verb@int@, which determines the element type of the iterator which is passed next. \paragraph{Local Type Inference.} Passing type parameters such as \verb@[int]@ all the time can become tedious in applications where polymorphic functions are used a lot. Quite often, the information in a type parameter is redundant, because the correct parameter type can also be determined by inspecting the function's value parameters or expected result type. Taking the \verb@isPrime@ function as an example, we know that its first value parameter is of type \verb@Iterator[int]@, so we can determine the type parameter \verb@int@ from it. Scala contains a fairly powerful local type inferencer which allows one to omit type parameters to polymorphic functions and constructors in situations like these. In the example above, the \verb@int@ type parameter would have been inferred if it was not given explicitly. Here is another application which prints all prime numbers between 1 and 10000. \begin{verbatim} forall(new RangeIterator(1, 10001)){ x => if (isPrime(x)) System.out.println(x) } \end{verbatim} This time, the type parameter for \verb@forEach@ was omitted (and was inferred to be \verb@int@). Method \verb@append@ constructs an iterator which resumes with the given iterator \verb@it@ after the current iterator has finished. \begin{verbatim} def append(that: Iterator[a]): Iterator[a] = new Iterator[a] { def hasNext = outer.hasNext || that.hasNext; def next = if (outer.hasNext) outer.next else that.next; } \end{verbatim} The terms \verb@outer.next@ and \verb@outer.hasNext@ in the definition of \verb@append@ call the corresponding methods as they are defined in the enclosing \verb@Iterator@ class. Generally, an \verb@outer@ prefix in a selection indicates an identifier that is visible immediately outside the current class or template. If the \verb@outer@ prefix would have been missing, \verb@hasNext@ and \verb@next@ would have called recursively the methods being defined in the iterator constructed by \verb@append@, which is not what we want. Method \verb@filter@ constructs an iterator which returns all elements of the original iterator that satisfy a criterion \verb@p@. \begin{verbatim} def filter(p: a => boolean) = new Iterator[a] { private class Cell[T](elem_: T) { def elem = elem_; } private var head: Cell[a] = null; private var isAhead = false; def hasNext: boolean = if (isAhead) true else if (outer.hasNext) { head = Cell(outer.next); isAhead = p(head.elem); hasNext } else false; def next: a = if (hasNext) { isAhead = false; head.elem } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} Method \verb@map@ constructs an iterator which returns all elements of the original iterator transformed by a given function \verb@f@. \begin{verbatim} def map[b](f: a => b) = new Iterator[b] { def hasNext: boolean = outer.hasNext; def next: b = f(outer.next); } \end{verbatim} The return type of the transformation function \verb@f@ is arbitrary. This is expressed by a type parameter \verb@b@ in the signature of method \verb@map@, which represents the return type. We also say, \verb@map@ is a {\em polymorphic} function. Method \verb@flatMap@ is like method \verb@map@, except that the transformation function \verb@f@ now returns an iterator. The result of \verb@flatMap@ is the iterator resulting from appending together all iterators returned from successive calls of \verb@f@. \begin{verbatim} private var cur: Iterator[b] = new EmptyIterator[b]; def hasNext: boolean = if (cur.hasNext) true else if (outer.hasNext) { cur = f(outer.next); hasNext } else false; def next: b = if (cur.hasNext) cur.next else if (outer.hasNext) { cur = f(outer.next); next } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} Finally, method \verb@zip@ takes another iterator and returns an iterator consisting of pairs of corresponding elements returned by the two iterators. \begin{verbatim} def zip[b](that: Iterator[b]) = new Iterator[(a, b)] { def hasNext = outer.hasNext && that.hasNext; def next = (outer.next, that.next); } } //end iterator; \end{verbatim} Concrete iterators need to provide implementations for the two abstract methods \verb@next@ and \verb@hasNext@ in class \verb@Iterator@. The simplest iterator is \verb@EmptyIterator@ which always returns an empty sequence: \begin{verbatim} class EmptyIterator[a] extends Iterator[a] { def hasNext = false; def next: a = error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} A more interesting iterator enumerates all elements of an array. This iterator is formulated here as a polymorphic function. It could have also been written as a class, like \verb@EmptyIterator@. The difference between the two formulation is that classes also define new types, whereas functions do not. \begin{verbatim} def arrayIterator[a](xs: Array[a]) = new Iterator[a] { private var i = 0; def hasNext: boolean = i < xs.length; def next: a = if (i < xs.length) { val x = xs(i) ; i = i + 1 ; x } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} Another iterator enumerates an integer interval: \begin{verbatim} def range(lo: int, hi: int) = new Iterator[int] { private var i = lo; def hasNext: boolean = i <= hi; def next: int = if (i <= hi) { i = i + 1 ; i - 1 } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} %In fact, enumerating integer intervals is so common that it is %supported by a method %\begin{verbatim} %def to(hi: int): Iterator[int] %\end{verbatim} %in class \verb@int@. Hence, one could also write \verb@l to h@ instead of %\verb@range(l, h)@. All iterators seen so far terminate eventually. It is also possible to define iterators that go on forever. For instance, the following iterator returns successive integers from some start value\footnote{Due to the finite representation of type \prog{int}, numbers will wrap around at $2^31$.}. \begin{verbatim} def from(start: int) = new Iterator[int] { private var last = start - 1; def hasNext = true; def next = { last = last + 1; last } } \end{verbatim} Here are two examples how iterators are used. First, to print all elements of an array \verb@xs: Array[int]@, one can write: \begin{verbatim} arrayIterator[int](xs) foreach (x => System.out.println(x)) \end{verbatim} Here, \verb@[int]@ is a type argument clause, which matches the type parameter clause \verb@[a]@ of function \verb@arrayIterator@. It substitutes the formal argument \verb@int@ for the formal argument \verb@a@ in the type of the method that follows. Hence, \verb@arrayIterator[a]@ is a function that takes an \verb@Array[int]@ and that returns an \verb@Iterator[int]@. In this example, the formal type argument \verb@int@ is redundant since it could also have been inferred from the value \verb@xs@, which is, after all, an array of \verb@int@. The Scala compiler contains a fairly powerful type inferencer which infers type arguments for methods and constructors from the types of value arguments and the expected return type. In our example, the \verb@[int]@ clause can be inferred, so that one can abbreviate to: \begin{verbatim} arrayIterator(xs) foreach (x => System.out.println(x)) \end{verbatim} %As a second example, consider the problem of finding the indices of %all the elements in an array of \verb@double@s greater than some %\verb@limit@. The indices should be returned as an iterator. %This is achieved by the following expression. %\begin{verbatim} %arrayIterator(xs) % .zip(from(0)) % .filter(x, i => x > limit) % .map(x, i => i) %\end{verbatim} %The first line in this expression iterates through all array elements, %the second lines pairs elements with their indices, the third line %selects all value/index pairs where the value is greater than %\verb@limit@, and the fourth line returns the index part of all %selected pairs. %Note that we have omitted the type arguments for the calls of %\verb@arrayIterator@, \verb@zip@ and \verb@map@. These are all %implicitly inserted by the type inferencer. \es \paragraph{Abstract Methods.} Classes can also omit some of the definitions of their members. As an example, consider the following class \verb@Ord@ which provides the comparison operators \verb@<, >, <=, >=@. %\begin{verbatim} %abstract class Ord { % abstract def <(that: this); % def <=(that: this) = this < that || this == that; % def >(that: this) = that < this; % def >=(that: this) = that <= this; %} %\end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} abstract class Ord { def <(that: this): boolean; def <=(that: this) = this < that || this == that; def >(that: this) = that < this; def >=(that: this) = that <= this; } \end{verbatim} Since we want to leave open which objects are compared, we are unable to give an implementation for the \verb@<@ method. However, once \verb@<@ is given, we can define the other three comparison operators in terms of \verb@<@ and the equality test \verb@==@ (which is defined in class \verb@Object@). This is expressed by having in \verb@Ord@ an {\em abstract} method \verb@<@ to which the implementations of the other methods refer. \paragraph{Self References.} The name \verb@this@ refers in this class to the current object. The type of \verb@this@ is also called \verb@this@ (generally, every name in Scala can have a definition as a term and another one as a type). When used as a type, \verb@this@ refers to the type of the current object. This type is always compatible with the class being defined (\verb@Ord@ in this case). \paragraph{Mixin Composition.} We can now define a class of \verb@Rational@ numbers that support comparison operators. \begin{verbatim} final class OrderedRational(n: int, d: int) extends Rational(n, d) with Ord { override def ==(that: OrderedRational) = numer == that.numer && denom == that.denom; def <(that: OrderedRational): boolean = numer * that.denom < that.numer * denom; } \end{verbatim} Class \verb@OrderedRational@ redefines method \verb@==@, which is defined as reference equality in class \verb@Object@. It also implements the abstract method \verb@<@ from class \verb@Ord@. In addition, it inherits all members of class \verb@Rational@ and all non-abstract members of class \verb@Ord@. The implementations of \verb@==@ and \verb@<@ replace the definition of \verb@==@ in class \verb@Object@ and the abstract declaration of \verb@<@ in class \verb@Ord@. The other inherited comparison methods then refer to this implementation in their body. The clause ``\verb@Rational(d, d) with Ord@'' is an instance of {\em mixin composition}. It describes a template for an object that is compatible with both \verb@Rational@ and \verb@Ord@ and that contains all members of either class. \verb@Rational@ is called the {\em superclass} of \verb@OrderedRational@ while \verb@Ord@ is called a {\em mixin class}. The type of this template is the {\em compound type} ``\verb@Rational with Ord@''. On the surface, mixin composition looks much like multiple inheritance. The difference between the two becomes apparent if we look at superclasses of inherited classes. With multiple inheritance, both \verb@Rational@ and \verb@Ord@ would contribute a superclass \verb@Object@ to the template. We therefore have to answer some tricky questions, such as whether members of \verb@Object@ are present once or twice and whether the initializer of \verb@Object@ is called once or twice. Mixin composition avoids these complications. In the mixin composition \verb@Rational with Ord@, class \verb@Rational@ is treated as actual superclass of class \verb@Ord@. A mixin composition \verb@C with M@ is well-formed as long as the first operand \verb@C@ conforms to the declared superclass of the second operand \verb@M@. This holds in our example, because \verb@Rational@ conforms to \verb@Object@. In a sense, mixin composition amounts to overriding the superclass of a class. \paragraph{Final Classes.} Note that class \verb@OrderedRational@ was defined \verb@final@. This means that no classes extending \verb@OrderedRational@ may be defined in other parts of the program. %Within final classes the %type \verb@this@ is an alias of the defined class itself. Therefore, %we could define our \verb@<@ method with an argument of type %\verb@OrderedRational@ as a well-formed implementation of the abstract class %\verb@less(that: this)@ in class \verb@Ord@. \chapter{Generic Types and Methods} Classes in Scala can have type parameters. We demonstrate the use of type parameters with iterators as an example. An iterator is an object which traverses a sequence of values, using two abstract methods. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Iterator[a] { def hasNext: boolean; def next: a; \end{verbatim} Method \verb@next@ returns successive elements. Method \verb@hasNext@ indicates whether there are still more elements to be returned by \verb@next@. The type of elements returned by an iterator is arbitrary. We express that by giving the class \verb@Iterator@ the type parameter \verb@a@. Type parameters are written in square brackets, in contrast to normal value parameters, which are written in parentheses. Iterators also support other methods, which are explained in the following. Method \verb@foreach@ applies a procedure (i.e. a function returning \verb@unit@ to each element returned by the iterator: \begin{verbatim} def foreach(f: a => unit): unit = while (hasNext) { f(next) } \end{verbatim} Method \verb@append@ constructs an iterator which resumes with the given iterator \verb@it@ after the current iterator has finished. \begin{verbatim} def append(that: Iterator[a]): Iterator[a] = new Iterator[a] { def hasNext = outer.hasNext || that.hasNext; def next = if (outer.hasNext) outer.next else that.next; } \end{verbatim} The terms \verb@outer.next@ and \verb@outer.hasNext@ in the definition of \verb@append@ call the corresponding methods as they are defined in the enclosing \verb@Iterator@ class. Generally, an \verb@outer@ prefix in a selection indicates an identifier that is visible immediately outside the current class or template. If the \verb@outer@ prefix would have been missing, \verb@hasNext@ and \verb@next@ would have called recursively the methods being defined in the iterator constructed by \verb@append@, which is not what we want. Method \verb@filter@ constructs an iterator which returns all elements of the original iterator that satisfy a criterion \verb@p@. \begin{verbatim} def filter(p: a => boolean) = new Iterator[a] { private class Cell[T](elem_: T) { def elem = elem_; } private var head: Cell[a] = null; private var isAhead = false; def hasNext: boolean = if (isAhead) true else if (outer.hasNext) { head = Cell(outer.next); isAhead = p(head.elem); hasNext } else false; def next: a = if (hasNext) { isAhead = false; head.elem } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} Method \verb@map@ constructs an iterator which returns all elements of the original iterator transformed by a given function \verb@f@. \begin{verbatim} def map[b](f: a => b) = new Iterator[b] { def hasNext: boolean = outer.hasNext; def next: b = f(outer.next); } \end{verbatim} The return type of the transformation function \verb@f@ is arbitrary. This is expressed by a type parameter \verb@b@ in the signature of method \verb@map@, which represents the return type. We also say, \verb@map@ is a {\em polymorphic} function. Method \verb@flatMap@ is like method \verb@map@, except that the transformation function \verb@f@ now returns an iterator. The result of \verb@flatMap@ is the iterator resulting from appending together all iterators returned from successive calls of \verb@f@. \begin{verbatim} private var cur: Iterator[b] = new EmptyIterator[b]; def hasNext: boolean = if (cur.hasNext) true else if (outer.hasNext) { cur = f(outer.next); hasNext } else false; def next: b = if (cur.hasNext) cur.next else if (outer.hasNext) { cur = f(outer.next); next } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} Finally, method \verb@zip@ takes another iterator and returns an iterator consisting of pairs of corresponding elements returned by the two iterators. \begin{verbatim} def zip[b](that: Iterator[b]) = new Iterator[(a, b)] { def hasNext = outer.hasNext && that.hasNext; def next = (outer.next, that.next); } } //end iterator; \end{verbatim} Concrete iterators need to provide implementations for the two abstract methods \verb@next@ and \verb@hasNext@ in class \verb@Iterator@. The simplest iterator is \verb@EmptyIterator@ which always returns an empty sequence: \begin{verbatim} class EmptyIterator[a] extends Iterator[a] { def hasNext = false; def next: a = error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} A more interesting iterator enumerates all elements of an array. This iterator is formulated here as a polymorphic function. It could have also been written as a class, like \verb@EmptyIterator@. The difference between the two formulation is that classes also define new types, whereas functions do not. \begin{verbatim} def arrayIterator[a](xs: Array[a]) = new Iterator[a] { private var i = 0; def hasNext: boolean = i < xs.length; def next: a = if (i < xs.length) { val x = xs(i) ; i = i + 1 ; x } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} Another iterator enumerates an integer interval: \begin{verbatim} def range(lo: int, hi: int) = new Iterator[int] { private var i = lo; def hasNext: boolean = i <= hi; def next: int = if (i <= hi) { i = i + 1 ; i - 1 } else error("next on empty iterator"); } \end{verbatim} %In fact, enumerating integer intervals is so common that it is %supported by a method %\begin{verbatim} %def to(hi: int): Iterator[int] %\end{verbatim} %in class \verb@int@. Hence, one could also write \verb@l to h@ instead of %\verb@range(l, h)@. All iterators seen so far terminate eventually. It is also possible to define iterators that go on forever. For instance, the following iterator returns successive integers from some start value\footnote{Due to the finite representation of type \prog{int}, numbers will wrap around at $2^31$.}. \begin{verbatim} def from(start: int) = new Iterator[int] { private var last = start - 1; def hasNext = true; def next = { last = last + 1; last } } \end{verbatim} Here are two examples how iterators are used. First, to print all elements of an array \verb@xs: Array[int]@, one can write: \begin{verbatim} arrayIterator[int](xs) foreach (x => System.out.println(x)) \end{verbatim} Here, \verb@[int]@ is a type argument clause, which matches the type parameter clause \verb@[a]@ of function \verb@arrayIterator@. It substitutes the formal argument \verb@int@ for the formal argument \verb@a@ in the type of the method that follows. Hence, \verb@arrayIterator[a]@ is a function that takes an \verb@Array[int]@ and that returns an \verb@Iterator[int]@. In this example, the formal type argument \verb@int@ is redundant since it could also have been inferred from the value \verb@xs@, which is, after all, an array of \verb@int@. The Scala compiler contains a fairly powerful type inferencer which infers type arguments for methods and constructors from the types of value arguments and the expected return type. In our example, the \verb@[int]@ clause can be inferred, so that one can abbreviate to: \begin{verbatim} arrayIterator(xs) foreach (x => System.out.println(x)) \end{verbatim} %As a second example, consider the problem of finding the indices of %all the elements in an array of \verb@double@s greater than some %\verb@limit@. The indices should be returned as an iterator. %This is achieved by the following expression. %\begin{verbatim} %arrayIterator(xs) % .zip(from(0)) % .filter(x, i => x > limit) % .map(x, i => i) %\end{verbatim} %The first line in this expression iterates through all array elements, %the second lines pairs elements with their indices, the third line %selects all value/index pairs where the value is greater than %\verb@limit@, and the fourth line returns the index part of all %selected pairs. %Note that we have omitted the type arguments for the calls of %\verb@arrayIterator@, \verb@zip@ and \verb@map@. These are all %implicitly inserted by the type inferencer. \chapter{\label{sec:for-notation}For-Comprehensions} The last chapter has demonstrated that the use of higher-order functions over sequences can lead to very concise programs. But sometimes the level of abstraction required by these functions makes a program hard to understand. Here, Scala's \verb@for@ notation can help. For instance, say we are given a sequence \verb@persons@ of persons with \verb@name@ and \verb@age@ fields. That sequence could be an array, or a list, or an iterator, or some other type implementing the sequence abstraction (this will be made more precise below). To print the names of all persons in the sequence which are aged over 20, one writes: \begin{verbatim} for { val p <- persons; p.age > 20 } yield p.name \end{verbatim} This is equivalent to the following expression , which uses higher-order functions \verb@filter@ and \verb@map@: \begin{verbatim} persons filter (p => p.age > 20) map (p => p.name) \end{verbatim} The for-expression looks a bit like a for-loop in imperative languages, except that it constructs a list of the results of all iterations. Generally, a for-comprehension is of the form \begin{verbatim} for ( s ) yield e \end{verbatim} (Instead of parentheses, braces may also be used.) Here, \verb@s@ is a sequence of {\em generators} and {\em filters}. \begin{itemize} \item A {\em generator} is of the form \verb@val x <- e@, where \verb@e@ is a list-valued expression. It binds \verb@x@ to successive values in the list. \item A {\em filter} is an expression \verb@f@ of type \verb@boolean@. It omits from consideration all bindings for which \verb@f@ is \verb@false@. \end{itemize} The sequence must start with a generator. If there are several generators in a sequence, later generators vary more rapidly than earlier ones. Here are two examples that show how for-comprehensions are used. First, given a positive integer \verb@n@, find all pairs of positive integers \verb@i@, \verb@j@, where \verb@1 <= j < i <= n@ such that \verb@i + j@ is prime. \begin{verbatim} for \={ \=val i <- range(1, n); \> \>val j <- range(1, i-1); \> \>isPrime(i+j) } yield (i, j) \end{verbatim} As second example, the scalar product of two vectors \verb@xs@ and \verb@ys@ can now be written as follows. \begin{verbatim} sum (for { val (x, y) <- xs zip ys } yield x * y) \end{verbatim} The for-notation is essentially equivalent to common operations of database query languages. For instance, say we are given a book database \verb@books@, represented as a list of books, where \verb@Book@ is defined as follows. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Book { val title: String; val authors: List[String] } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} val books: List[Book] = [ new Book { val title = "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs"; val authors = ["Abelson, Harald", "Sussman, Gerald J."]; }, new Book { val title = "Principles of Compiler Design"; val authors = ["Aho, Alfred", "Ullman, Jeffrey"]; }, new Book { val title = "Programming in Modula-2"; val authors = ["Wirth, Niklaus"]; } ]; \end{verbatim} Then, to find the titles of all books whose author's last name is ``Ullman'': \begin{verbatim} for { val b <- books; val a <- b.authors; a startsWith "Ullman" } yield b.title \end{verbatim} (Here, \verb@startsWith@ is a method in \verb@java.lang.String@). Or, to find the titles of all books that have the string ``Program'' in their title: \begin{verbatim} for { val b <- books; (b.title indexOf "Program") >= 0 } yield b.title \end{verbatim} Or, to find the names of all authors that have written at least two books in the database. \begin{verbatim} for { \=val b1 <- books; \>val b2 <- books; \>b1 != b2; \>val a1 <- b1.authors; \>val a2 <- b2.authors; \>a1 == a2 } yield a1 \end{verbatim} The last solution is not yet perfect, because authors will appear several times in the list of results. We still need to remove duplicate authors from result lists. This can be achieved with the following function. \begin{verbatim} def removeDuplicates[a](xs: List[a]): List[a] = if (xs.isEmpty) xs else xs.head :: removeDuplicates(xs.tail filter (x => x != xs.head)); \end{verbatim} The last expression can be equivalently expressed as follows. \begin{verbatim} xs.head :: removeDuplicates(for (val x <- xs.tail; x != xs.head) yield x) \end{verbatim} \subsection*{Translation of \prog{for}} Every for-comprehensions can be expressed in terms of the three higher-order functions \verb@map@, \verb@flatMap@ and \verb@filter@. Here is the translation scheme, which is also used by the Scala compiler. \begin{itemize} \item A simple for-comprehension \begin{verbatim} for (val x <- e) yield e' \end{verbatim} is translated to \begin{verbatim} e.map(x => e') \end{verbatim} \item A for-comprehension \begin{verbatim} for (val x <- e; f; s) yield e' \end{verbatim} where \verb@f@ is a filter and \verb@s@ is a (possibly empty) sequence of generators or filters is translated to \begin{verbatim} for (val x <- e.filter(x => f); s) yield e' \end{verbatim} and then translation continues with the latter expression. \item A for-comprehension \begin{verbatim} for (val x <- e; y <- e'; s) yield e'' \end{verbatim} where \verb@s@ is a (possibly empty) sequence of generators or filters is translated to \begin{verbatim} e.flatMap(x => for (y <- e'; s) yield e'') \end{verbatim} and then translation continues with the latter expression. \end{itemize} For instance, taking our "pairs of integers whose sum is prime" example: \begin{verbatim} for \= { \= val i <- range(1, n); \> \> val j <- range(1, i-1); \> \> isPrime(i+j) } yield (i, j) \end{verbatim} Here is what we get when we translate this expression: \begin{verbatim} range(1, n) .flatMap(i => range(1, i-1) .filter(j => isPrime(i+j)) .map(j => (i, j))) \end{verbatim} \exercise Define the following function in terms of \verb@for@. \begin{verbatim} def concat(xss: List[List[a]]): List[a] = (xss foldr []) { xs, ys => xs ::: ys } \end{verbatim} \exercise Translate \begin{verbatim} for { val b <- books; val a <- b.authors; a startsWith "Bird" } yield b.title for { val b <- books; (b.title indexOf "Program") >= 0 } yield b.title \end{verbatim} to higher-order functions. We have seen that the for-translation only relies on the presence of methods \verb@map@, \verb@flatMap@, and \verb@filter@. This gives programmers the possibility to have for-syntax for other types as well -- one only needs to define \verb@map@, \verb@flatMap@, and \verb@filter@ for these types. That's also why we were able to define \verb@for@ at the same time for arrays, iterators, and lists -- all these types have the required three methods \verb@map@,\verb@flatMap@, and \verb@filter@ as members. Of course, it is also possible for users and library designers to define other types with these methods. There are many examples where this is useful: Databases, XML trees, optional values. We will see in Chapter~\ref{sec:parsers-results} how for-comprehensions can be used in the definition of parsers for context-free grammars that construct abstract syntax trees. \chapter{\label{sec:simple-examples}Pattern Matching} \todo{Complete} Consider binary trees whose leafs contain integer arguments. This can be described by a class for trees, with subclasses for leafs and branch nodes: \begin{verbatim} abstract class Tree; case class Branch(left: Tree, right: Tree) extends Tree; case class Leaf(x: int) extends Tree; \end{verbatim} Note that the class \verb@Tree@ is not followed by an extends clause or a body. This defines \verb@Tree@ to be an empty subclass of \verb@Object@, as if we had written \begin{verbatim} class Tree extends Object {} \end{verbatim} Note also that the two subclasses of \verb@Tree@ have a \verb@case@ modifier. That modifier has two effects. First, it lets us construct values of a case class by simply calling the constructor, without needing a preceding \verb@new@. Example: \begin{verbatim} val tree1 = Branch(Branch(Leaf(1), Leaf(2)), Branch(Leaf(3), Leaf(4))) \end{verbatim} Second, it lets us use constructors for these classes in patterns, as is illustrated in the following example. \begin{verbatim} def sumLeaves(t: Tree): int = t match { case Branch(l, r) => sumLeaves(l) + sumLeaves(r) case Leaf(x) => x } \end{verbatim} The function \verb@sumLeaves@ sums up all the integer values in the leaves of a given tree \verb@t@. It is is implemented by calling the \verb@match@ method of \verb@t@ with a {\em choice expression} as argument (\verb@match@ is a predefined method in class \verb@Object@). The choice expression consists of two cases which both relate a pattern with an expression. The pattern of the first case, \verb@Branch(l, r)@ matches all instances of class \verb@Branch@ and binds the {\em pattern variables} \verb@l@ and \verb@r@ to the constructor arguments, i.e.\ the left and right subtrees of the branch. Pattern variables always start with a lower case letter; to avoid ambiguities, constructors in patterns should start with an upper case letter. The effect of the choice expression is to select the first alternative whose pattern matches the given select value, and to evaluate the body of this alternative in a context where pattern variables are bound to corresponding parts of the selector. For instance, the application \verb@sumLeaves(tree1)@ would select the first alternative with the \verb@Branch(l,r)@ pattern, and would evaluate the expression \verb@sumLeaves(l) + sumLeaves(r)@ with bindings \begin{verbatim} l = Branch(Leaf(1), Leaf(2)), r = Branch(Leaf(3), Leaf(4)). \end{verbatim} As another example, consider the following class \begin{verbatim} abstract final class Option[+a]; case object None extends Option[All]; case class Some[a](item: a) extends Option[a]; \end{verbatim} ... %\todo{Several simple and intermediate examples needed}. \begin{verbatim} def find[a,b](it: Iterator[(a, b)], x: a): Option[b] = { var result: Option[b] = None; while (it.hasNext && result == None) { val (x1, y) = it.next; if (x == x1) result = Some(y) } result } find(xs, x) match { case Some(y) => System.out.println(y) case None => System.out.println("no match") } \end{verbatim} \comment{ class MaxCounter { var maxVal: Option[int] = None; def set(x: int) = maxVal match { case None => maxVal = Some(x) case Some(y) => maxVal = Some(Math.max(x, y)) } } \end{verbatim} } \comment{ \begin{verbatim} class Stream[a] = List[a] module Stream { def concat(xss: Stream[Stream[a]]): Stream[a] = { let result: Stream[a] = xss match { case [] => [] case [] :: xss1 => concat(xss1) case (x :: xs) :: xss1 => x :: concat(xs :: xss1) } result } } \end{verbatim} } \comment{ \chapter{Implementing Abstract Types: Search Trees} This chapter presents unbalanced binary search trees, implemented in three different styles: algebraic, object-oriented, and imperative. In each case, a search tree package is seen as an implementation of a class {\em MapStruct}. \begin{verbatim} abstract class MapStruct[kt, vt] { abstract type Map extends kt => vt { def apply(key: kt): vt; def extend(key: kt, value: vt): Map; def remove(key: kt): Map; def domain: Stream[kt]; def range: Stream[vt]; } def empty: Map; } \end{verbatim} The \verb@MapStruct@ class is parameterized with a type of keys \verb@kt@ and a type of values \verb@vt@. It specifies an abstract type \verb@Map@ and an abstract value \verb@empty@, which represents empty maps. Every implementation \verb@Map@ needs to conform to that abstract type, which extends the function type \verb@kt => vt@ with four new methods. The method \verb@domain@ yields a stream that enumerates the map's domain, i.e. the set of keys that are mapped to non-null values. The method \verb@range@ yields a stream that enumerates the function's range, i.e.\ the values obtained by applying the function to arguments in its domain. The method \verb@extend@ extends the map with a given key/value binding, whereas \verb@remove@ removes a given key from the map's domain. Both methods yield a new map value as result, which has the same representation as the receiver object. \begin{figure}[t] \begin{verbatim} class AlgBinTree[kt extends Ord, vt] extends MapStruct[kt, vt] { private case Empty extends Map, Node(key: kt, value: vt, l: Map, r: Map) extends Map final class Map extends kt => vt { def apply(key: kt): vt = this match { case Empty => null case Node(k, v, l, r) => if (key < k) l.apply(key) else if (key > k) r.apply(key) else v } def extend(key: kt, value: vt): Map = this match { case Empty => Node(k, v, Empty, Empty) case Node(k, v, l, r) => if (key < k) Node(k, v, l.extend(key, value), r) else if (key > k) Node(k, v, l, r.extend(key, value)) else Node(k, value, l, r) } def remove(key: kt): Map = this match { case Empty => Empty case Node(k, v, l, r) => if (key < k) Node(k, v, l.remove(key), r) else if (key > k) Node(k, v, l, r.remove(key)) else if (l == Empty) r else if (r == Empty) l else { val midKey = r.domain.head Node(midKey, r.apply(midKey), l, r.remove(midKey)) } } def domain: Stream[kt] = this match { case Empty => [] case Node(k, v, l, r) => Stream.concat([l.domain, [k], r.domain]) } def range: Stream[vt] = this match { case Empty => [] case Node(k, v, l, r) => Stream.concat([l.range, [v], r.range]) } } def empty: Map = Empty } \end{verbatim} \caption{\label{fig:algbintree}Algebraic implementation of binary search trees} \end{figure} We now present three implementations of \verb@Map@, which are all based on binary search trees. The \verb@apply@ method of a map is implemented in each case by the usual search function over binary trees, which compares a given key with the key stored in the topmost tree node, and depending on the result of the comparison, searches the left or the right hand sub-tree. The type of keys must implement the \verb@Ord@ class, which contains comparison methods (see Chapter~\ref{chap:classes} for a definition of class \verb@Ord@). The first implementation, \verb@AlgBinTree@, is given in Figure~\ref{fig:algbintree}. It represents a map with a data type \verb@Map@ with two cases, \verb@Empty@ and \verb@Node@. Every method of \verb@AlgBinTree[kt, vt].Map@ performs a pattern match on the value of \verb@this@ using the \verb@match@ method which is defined as postfix function application in class \verb@Object@ (\sref{sec:class-object}). The functions \verb@domain@ and \verb@range@ return their results as lazily constructed lists. The \verb@Stream@ class is an alias of \verb@List@ which should be used to indicate the fact that its values are constructed lazily. \begin{figure}[thb] \begin{verbatim} class OOBinTree[kt extends Ord, vt] extends MapStruct[kt, vt] { abstract class Map extends kt => vt { def apply(key: kt): v def extend(key: kt, value: vt): Map def remove(key: kt): Map def domain: Stream[kt] def range: Stream[vt] } module empty extends Map { def apply(key: kt) = null def extend(key: kt, value: vt) = Node(key, value, empty, empty) def remove(key: kt) = empty def domain = [] def range = [] } private class Node(k: kt, v: vt, l: Map, r: Map) extends Map { def apply(key: kt): vt = if (key < k) l.apply(key) else if (key > k) r.apply(key) else v def extend(key: kt, value: vt): Map = if (key < k) Node(k, v, l.extend(key, value), r) else if (key > k) Node(k, v, l, r.extend(key, value)) else Node(k, value, l, r) def remove(key: kt): Map = if (key < k) Node(k, v, l.remove(key), r) else if (key > k) Node(k, v, l, r.remove(key)) else if (l == empty) r else if (r == empty) l else { val midKey = r.domain.head Node(midKey, r(midKey), l, r.remove(midKey)) } def domain: Stream[kt] = Stream.concat([l.domain, [k], r.domain] ) def range: Stream[vt] = Stream.concat([l.range, [v], r.range]) } } \end{verbatim} \caption{\label{fig:oobintree}Object-oriented implementation of binary search trees} \end{figure} The second implementation of maps is given in Figure~\ref{fig:oobintree}. Class \verb@OOBinTree@ implements the type \verb@Map@ with a module \verb@empty@ and a class \verb@Node@, which define the behavior of empty and non-empty trees, respectively. Note the different nesting structure of \verb@AlgBinTree@ and \verb@OOBinTree@. In the former, all methods form part of the base class \verb@Map@. The different behavior of empty and non-empty trees is expressed using a pattern match on the tree itself. In the latter, each subclass of \verb@Map@ defines its own set of methods, which override the methods in the base class. The pattern matches of the algebraic implementation have been replaced by the dynamic binding that comes with method overriding. Which of the two schemes is preferable depends to a large degree on which extensions of the type are anticipated. If the type is later extended with a new alternative, it is best to keep methods in each alternative, the way it was done in \verb@OOBinTree@. On the other hand, if the type is extended with additional methods, then it is preferable to keep only one implementation of methods and to rely on pattern matching, since this way existing subclasses need not be modified. \begin{figure} \begin{verbatim} class MutBinTree[kt extends Ord, vt] extends MapStruct[kt, vt] { class Map(key: kt, value: vt) extends kt => vt { val k = key var v = value var l = empty, r = empty def apply(key: kt): vt = if (this eq empty) null else if (key < k) l.apply(key) else if (key > k) r.apply(key) else v def extend(key: kt, value: vt): Map = if (this eq empty) Map(key, value) else { if (key < k) l = l.extend(key, value) else if (key > k) r = r.extend(key, value) else v = value this } def remove(key: kt): Map = if (this eq empty) this else if (key < k) { l = l.remove(key) ; this } else if (key > k) { r = r.remove(key) ; this } else if (l eq empty) r else if (r eq empty) l else { var mid = r while (!(mid.l eq empty)) { mid = mid.l } mid.r = r.remove(mid.k) mid.l = l mid } def domain: Stream[kt] = Stream.concat([l.domain, [k], r.domain]) def range: Stream[vt] = Stream.concat([l.range, [v], r.range]) } let empty = new Map(null, null) } \end{verbatim} \caption{\label{fig:impbintree}Side-effecting implementation of binary search trees} \end{figure} The two versions of binary trees presented so far are {\em persistent}, in the sense that maps are values that cannot be changed by side effects. By contrast, in the next implementation of binary trees, the implementations of \verb@extend@ and \verb@remove@ do have an effect on the state of their receiver object. This corresponds to the way binary trees are usually implemented in imperative languages. The new implementation can lead to some savings in computing time and memory allocation, but care is required not to use the original tree after it has been modified by a side-effecting operation. In this implementation, \verb@value@, \verb@l@ and \verb@r@ are variables that can be affected by method calls. The class \verb@MutBinTree[kt, vt].Map@ takes two instance parameters which define the \verb@key@ value and the initial value of the \verb@value@ variable. Empty trees are represented by a value \verb@empty@, which has \verb@null@ (signifying undefined) in both its key and value fields. Note that this value needs to be defined lazily using \verb@let@ since its definition involves the creation of a \verb@Map@ object, which accesses \verb@empty@ recursively as part of its initialization. All methods test first whether the current tree is empty using the reference equality operator \verb@eq@ (\sref{sec:class-object}). As a program using the \verb@MapStruct@ abstraction, consider a function which creates a map from strings to integers and then applies it to a key string: \begin{verbatim} def mapTest(def mapImpl: MapStruct[String, int]): int = { val map: mapImpl.Map = mapImpl.empty.extend("ab", 1).extend("bx", 3) val x = map("ab") // returns 1 } \end{verbatim} The function is parameterized with the particular implementation of \verb@MapStruct@. It can be applied to any one of the three implementations described above. E.g.: \begin{verbatim} mapTest(AlgBinTree[String, int]) mapTest(OOBinTree[String, int]) mapTest(MutBinTree[String, int]) \end{verbatim} } \chapter{Programming with Higher-Order Functions: Combinator Parsing} In this chapter we describe how to write combinator parsers in Scala. Such parsers are constructed from predefined higher-order functions, so called parser combinators, that closely model the constructions of an EBNF grammar \cite{ebnf}. As running example, we consider parsers for arithmetic expressions described by the following context-free grammar. \bda{p{3cm}cp{10cm}} letter &::=& /* all letters */ \\ digit &::=& /* all digits */ \\[0.5em] ident &::=& letter \{letter $|$ digit \}\\ number &::=& digit \{digit\}\\[0.5em] expr &::=& expr1 \{`+' expr1 $|$ `$-$' expr1\}\\ expr1 &::=& expr2 \{`*' expr2 $|$ `/' expr2\}\\ expr2 &::=& ident $|$ number $|$ `(' expr `)' \eda \section{Simple Combinator Parsing} In this section we will only be concerned with the task of recognizing input strings, not with processing them. So we can describe parsers by the sets of input strings they accept. There are two fundamental operators over parsers: \verb@&&&@ expresses the sequential composition of a parser with another, while \verb@|||@ expresses an alternative. These operations will both be defined as methods of a \verb@Parser@ class. We will also define constructors for the following primitive parsers: \begin{quote}\begin{tabular}{ll} \verb@empty@ & The parser that accepts the empty string \\ \verb@fail@ & The parser that accepts no string \\ \verb@chr@ & The parser that accepts any character. \\ \verb@chr(c: char)@ & The parser that accepts the single-character string ``$c$''. \\ \verb@chrWith(p: char => boolean)@ & The parser that accepts single-character strings ``$c$'' \\ & for which $p(c)$ is true. \end{tabular}\end{quote} There are also the two higher-order parser combinators \verb@opt@, expressing optionality and \verb@rep@, expressing repetition. For any parser $p$, \verb@opt($p$)@ yields a parser that accepts the strings accepted by $p$ or else the empty string, while \verb@rep($p$)@ accepts arbitrary sequences of the strings accepted by $p$. In EBNF, \verb@opt($p$)@ corresponds to $[p]$ and \verb@rep($p$)@ corresponds to $\{p\}$. The central idea of parser combinators is that parsers can be produced by a straightforward rewrite of the grammar, replacing \verb@::=@ with \verb@=@, sequencing with \verb@&&&@, choice \verb@|@ with \verb@|||@, repetition \verb@{...}@ with \verb@rep(...)@ and optional occurrence with \verb@[...]@. Applying this process to the grammar of arithmetic expressions yields: \begin{verbatim} module ExprParser { import Parse; def letter \= = \= chrWith(c => c.isLetter); def digit \= = \> chrWith(c => c.isDigit); def ident \> = \> letter &&& rep(letter ||| digit); def number \> = \> digit &&& rep(digit); def expr:Parser\> = expr1 &&& rep((chr('+') &&& expr1) ||| (chr('-') &&& expr1)); def expr1 \> = expr2 &&& rep((chr('*') &&& expr2) ||| (chr('/') &&& expr2)); def expr2 \> = ident ||| number ||| (chr('(') &&& expr &&& chr(')')); } \end{verbatim} It remains to explain how to implement a library with the combinators described above. We will pack combinators and their underlying implementation in a module \verb@Parse@. The first question to decide is which underlying representation type to use for a parser. We treat parsers here as functions that take a list of characters as input parameter and that yield a parse result. \begin{verbatim} module Parse { type Result = Option[List[char]]; abstract class Parser extends Function1[List[char],Result] { \end{verbatim} \comment{ The \verb@Option@ type is predefined as follows. \begin{verbatim} abstract final class Option[a]; case class None[a] extends Option[a]; case class Some[a](x: a) extends Option[a]; \end{verbatim} } A parser returns either the constant \verb@None@, which signifies that the parser did not recognize a legal input string, or it returns a value \verb@Some(in1)@ where \verb@in1@ represents that part of the input list that the parser did not consume. Parsers are instances of functions from \verb@List[char]@ to \verb@Parse.Result@, which also implement the combinators for sequence and alternative. This is modeled by defining \verb@Parser@ as a class that extends type \verb@Function1[List[char],Result]@ and that defines an \verb@apply@ method, as well as methods \verb@&&&@ and \verb@|||@. \begin{verbatim} abstract def apply(in: List[char]): Result; \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def &&& (def p: Parser) = new Parser { def apply(in: List[char]) = outer.apply(in) match { case Some(in1) => p(in1) case n => n } } def ||| (def p: Parser) = new Parser { def apply(in: List[char]) = outer.apply(in) match { case None => p(in) case s => s } } } \end{verbatim} The implementations of the primitive parsers \verb@empty@, \verb@fail@, \verb@chrWith@ and \verb@chr@ are as follows. \begin{verbatim} def empty = new Parser { def apply(in: List[char]) = Some(in) } def fail = new Parser { def apply(in: List[char]) = None[List[char]] } def chrWith(p: char => boolean) = new Parser { def apply(in: List[char]) = in match { case [] => None[List[char]] case (c :: in1) => if (p(c)) Some(in1) else None[List[char]] } } def chr(c: char): Parser = chrWith(d => d == c); \end{verbatim} The higher-order parser combinators \verb@opt@ and \verb@rep@ can be defined in terms of the combinators for sequence and alternative: \begin{verbatim} def opt(p: Parser): Parser = p ||| empty; def rep(p: Parser): Parser = opt(rep1(p)); def rep1(p: Parser): Parser = p &&& rep(p); } // end Parser \end{verbatim} This is all that's needed. Parsers such as the one for arithmetic expressions given above can now be composed from these building blocks. These parsers need not refer to the underlying implementation of parsers as functions from input lists to parse results. The presented combinator parsers use backtracking to change from one alternative to another. If one restricts the focus to LL(1) grammars, a non-backtracking implementation of parsers is also possible. This implementation can then be based on iterators instead of lists. \section{\label{sec:parsers-results}Parsers that Return Results} The combinator library of the previous section does not support the generation of output from parsing. But usually one does not just want to check whether a given string belongs to the defined language, one also wants to convert the input string into some internal representation such as an abstract syntax tree. In this section, we modify our parser library to build parsers that produce results. We will make use of the for-comprehensions introduced in Chapter~\ref{sec:for-notation}. The basic combinator of sequential composition, formerly \verb@p &&& q@, now becomes \begin{verbatim} for (val x <- p; val y <- q) yield e \end{verbatim}. Here, the names \verb@x@ and \verb@y@ are bound to the results of executing the parsers \verb@p@ and \verb@q@. \verb@e@ is an expression that uses these results to build the tree returned by the composed parser. Before describing the implementation of the new parser combinators, we explain how the new building blocks are used. Say we want to modify our arithmetic expression parser so that it returns an abstract syntax tree of the parsed expression. The class of syntax trees is given by: \begin{verbatim} abstract class Tree; case class Var(n: String) extends Tree; case class Num(n: int) extends Tree; case class Binop(op: char, l: Tree, r: Tree) extends Tree; \end{verbatim} That is, a syntax tree is a named variable, an integer number, or a binary operation with two operand trees and a character indicating the operation. As a first step towards parsers that produce syntax trees, we need to modify the ``micro-syntax'' parsers \verb@letter@, \verb@digit@, \verb@ident@ and \verb@number@ so that they return representations of the parsed input: \begin{verbatim} def letter: Parser[char] = chrWith(c => c.isLetter); def digit : Parser[char] = chrWith(c => c.isDigit); def ident: Parser[String] = for (val c <- letter; val cs <- rep(letter ||| digit)) yield ((c :: cs) foldr "") {c, s => c+ s}; def number: Parser[int] = for (val d <- digit; val ds <- rep(digit)) yield ((d - '0') :_foldl ds) {x, y => x * 10 + (y - '0')}; \end{verbatim} The \verb@letter@ and \verb@digit@ parsers simply return the letter that was parsed. The \verb@ident@ and \verb@number@ parsers return the string, respectively integer number that was parsed. In both cases, sub-parsers are applied in a for-comprehension and their results are embedded in the result of the calling parser. The remainder of the parser for arithmetic expressions follows the same scheme. \begin{verbatim} def expr: Parser[Tree] = for { val e1 <- expr1; val es <- rep ( for { val op <- chr('+') ||| chr('-'); val e <- expr1 } yield (x => Binop(op, x, e)) : Tree => Tree ) } yield applyAll(es, e1); \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def expr1: Parser[Tree] = for { val e1 <- expr2; val es <- rep ( for { val op <- chr('*') ||| chr('/'); val e <- expr2 } yield (x => Binop(op, x, e)) : Tree => Tree ) } yield applyAll(es, e1); \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def expr2: Parser[Tree] = { \= ( for { val n <- ident } yield Var(n) : Tree ) |||\> ( for { val n <- number } yield Num(n) : Tree ) |||\> ( for { val _ <- chr('('); val e <- expr; val _ <- chr(')') } yield e ); } \end{verbatim} Note the treatment of the repetitions in \verb@expr@ and \verb@expr1@. The parser for an expression suffix $op;e$ consisting of an operator $op$ and an expression $e$ returns a function, which, given a left operand expression $d$, constructs a \verb@Binop@ node that represents $d;op;e$. The \verb@rep@ parser combinator forms a list of all these functions. The final \verb@yield@ part applies all functions to the first operand in the sequence, which is represented by \verb@e1@. Here \verb@applyAll@ applies the list of functions passed as its first argument to its second argument. It is defined as follows. \begin{verbatim} def applyAll[a](fs: List[a => a], e: a): a = (e :_foldl fs) { x, f => f(x) } \end{verbatim} We now present the parser combinators that support the new scheme. Parsers that succeed now return a parse result besides the un-consumed input. \begin{verbatim} module Parse { type Result[a] = Option[(a, List[char])] \end{verbatim} Parsers are parameterized with the type of their result. The class \verb@Parser[a]@ now defines new methods \verb@map@, \verb@flatMap@ and \verb@filter@. The \verb@for@ expressions are mapped by the compiler to calls of these functions using the scheme described in Chapter~\ref{sec:for-notation}. Here is the complete definition of the new \verb@Parser@ class. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Parser[a] extends Function1[List[char],Result[a]] { def apply(in: List[char]): Result[a]; def filter(p: a => boolean) = new Parser[a] { def apply(in: List[char]): Result[a] = outer.apply(in) match { case Some((x, in1)) => if (p(x)) Some((x, in1)) else None case None => None } } def map[b](f: a => b) = new Parser[b] { def apply(in: List[char]): Result[b] = outer.apply(in) match { case Some((x, in1)) => Some((f(x), in1)) case None => None } } def flatMap[b](f: a => Parser[b]) = new Parser[b] { def apply(in: List[char]): Result[b] = outer.apply(in) match { case Some((x, in1)) => f(x)(in1) case None => None } } def ||| (def p: Parser[a]) = new Parser[a] { def apply(in: List[char]): Result[a] = outer.apply(in) match { case None => p(in) case s => s } } def &&& [b](def p: Parser[b]): Parser[b] = for (val _ <- this; val result <- p) yield result; } \end{verbatim} The \verb@filter@ method takes as parameter a predicate $p$ which it applies to the results of the current parser. If the predicate is false, the parser fails by returning \verb@None@; otherwise it returns the result of the current parser. The \verb@map@ method takes as parameter a function $f$ which it applies to the results of the current parser. The \verb@flatMap@ tales as parameter a function \verb@f@ which returns a parser. It applies \verb@f@ to the result of the current parser and then continues with the resulting parser. The \verb@|||@ method is essentially defined as before. The \verb@&&&@ method can now be defined in terms of \verb@for@. % Here is the code for fail, chrWith and chr % %\begin{verbatim} % def fail[a] = new Parser[a] { def apply(in: List[char]) = None[(a,List[char])] } % % def chrWith(p: char => boolean) = new Parser[char] { % def apply(in: List[char]) = in match { % case [] => None[(char,List[char])] % case (c :: in1) => if (p(c)) Some((c,in1)) else None[(char,List[char])] % } % } % % def chr(c: char): Parser[char] = chrWith(d => d == c); %\end{verbatim} The primitive parser \verb@succeed@ replaces \verb@empty@. It consumes no input and returns its parameter as result. \begin{verbatim} def succeed[a](x: a) = new Parser[a] { def apply(in: List[char]) = Some((x, in)) } \end{verbatim} The \verb@fail@ parser is as before. The parser combinators \verb@rep@ and \verb@opt@ now also return results. \verb@rep@ returns a list which contains as elements the results of each iteration of its sub-parser. \verb@opt@ returns an \verb@Option@ type which indicates whether something was recognized by its sub-parser. \begin{verbatim} def rep[a](p: Parser[a]): Parser[List[a]] = rep1(p) ||| succeed([]); def rep1[a](p: Parser[a]): Parser[List[a]] = for (val x <- p; val xs <- rep(p)) yield x :: xs; def opt[a](p: Parser[a]): Parser[Option [a]] = { for (val x <- p) yield (Some(x): Option[a]) } ||| succeed((None: Option[a])); } // end Parse \end{verbatim} \chapter{\label{sec:hm}Programming with Patterns: Hindley/Milner Type Inference} This chapter demonstrates Scala's data types and pattern matching by developing a type inference system in the Hindley/Milner style. The source language for the type inferencer is lambda calculus with a let construct. Abstract syntax trees for the source language are represented by the following data type of \verb@Terms@. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Term; case class Var(x: String) extends Term; case class Lam(x: String, e: Term) extends Term; case class App(f: Term, e: Term) extends Term; case class Let(x: String, e: Term, f: Term) extends Term; \end{verbatim} There are four tree constructors: \verb@Var@ for variables, \verb@Lam@ for function abstractions, \verb@App@ for function applications, and \verb@Let@ for let expressions. Note that these tree constructors are defined outside the \verb@Term@ class. It would also be possible to define further constructors for this type in other parts of the program. The next data type describes the form of types that are computed by the inference system. \begin{verbatim} module Types { abstract final class Type; case class Tyvar(a: String) extends Type; case class Arrow(t1: Type, t2: Type) extends Type; case class Tycon(k: String, ts: List[Type]) extends Type; private var n: int = 0; def newTyvar: Type = { n = n + 1 ; Tyvar("a" + n) } } import Types; \end{verbatim} There are three type constructors: \verb@Tyvar@ for type variables, \verb@Arrow@ for function types and \verb@Tycon@ for type constructors such as \verb@boolean@ or \verb@List@. Type constructors have as component a list of their type parameters. This list is empty for type constants such as \verb@boolean@. The data type is packaged in a module \verb@Types@. Also contained in that module is a function \verb@newTyvar@ which creates a fresh type variable each time it is called. The module definition is followed by an import clause \verb@import Types@, which makes the non-private members of this module available without qualification in the code that follows. Note that \verb@Type@ is a \verb@final@ class. This means that no subclasses or data constructors that extend \verb@Type@ can be formed except for the three constructors that follow the class. This makes \verb@Type@ into a {\em closed} algebraic data type with a fixed number of alternatives. By contrast, type \verb@Term@ is an {\em open} algebraic type for which further alternatives can be defined. The next data type describes type schemes, which consist of a type and a list of names of type variables which appear universally quantified in the type scheme. For instance, the type scheme $\forall a\forall b.a \arrow b$ would be represented in the type checker as: \begin{verbatim} TypeScheme(["a", "b"], Arrow(Tyvar("a"), Tyvar("b"))) . \end{verbatim} The data type definition of type schemes does not carry an extends clause; this means that type schemes extend directly class \verb@Object@. Even though there is only one possible way to construct a type scheme, a \verb@case class@ representation was chosen since it offers a convenient way to decompose a type scheme into its parts using pattern matching. \begin{verbatim} case class TypeScheme(ls: List[String], t: Type) { def newInstance: Type = { val instSubst = ((EmptySubst: Subst) :_foldl ls) { s, a => s.extend(Tyvar(a), newTyvar) } instSubst(t) } } \end{verbatim} Type scheme objects come with a method \verb@newInstance@, which returns the type contained in the scheme after all universally type variables have been renamed to fresh variables. The next class describes substitutions. A substitution is an idempotent function from type variables to types. It maps a finite number of given type variables to given types, and leaves all other type variables unchanged. The meaning of a substitution is extended point-wise to a mapping from types to types. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Subst extends Function1[Type,Type] { def lookup(x: Tyvar): Type; def apply(t: Type): Type = t match { case Tyvar(a) => val u = lookup(Tyvar(a)); if (t == u) t else apply(u); case Arrow(t1, t2) => Arrow(apply(t1), apply(t2)) case Tycon(k, ts) => Tycon(k, ts map apply) } def extend(x: Tyvar, t: Type) = new Subst { def lookup(y: Tyvar): Type = if (x == y) t else outer.lookup(y); } } case class EmptySubst extends Subst { def lookup(t: Tyvar): Type = t } \end{verbatim} We represent substitutions as functions, of type \verb@Type => Type@. To be an instance of this type, a substitution \verb@s@ has to implement an \verb@apply@ method that takes a \verb@Type@ as argument and yields another \verb@Type@ as result. A function application \verb@s(t)@ is then interpreted as \verb@s.apply(t)@. The \verb@lookup@ method is abstract in class \verb@Subst@. Concrete substitutions are defined by the case class \verb@EmptySubst@ and the method \verb@extend@ in class \verb@Subst@. The next class gives a naive implementation of sets using lists as the implementation type. It implements methods \verb@contains@ for membership tests as well as \verb@union@ and \verb@diff@ for set union and difference. Alternatively, one could have used a more efficient implementation of sets in some standard library. \begin{verbatim} class ListSet[a](xs: List[a]) { val elems: List[a] = xs; def contains(y: a): boolean = xs match { case [] => false case x :: xs1 => (x == y) || (xs1 contains y) } def union(ys: ListSet[a]): ListSet[a] = xs match { case [] => ys case x :: xs1 => if (ys contains x) ListSet(xs1) union ys else ListSet(x :: (ListSet(xs1) union ys).elems) } def diff(ys: ListSet[a]): ListSet[a] = xs match { case [] => ListSet([]) case x :: xs1 => if (ys contains x) ListSet(xs1) diff ys else ListSet(x :: (ListSet(xs1) diff ys).elems) } } \end{verbatim} We now present the type checker module. The type checker computes a type for a given term in a given environment. Environments associate variable names with type schemes. They are represented by a type alias \verb@Env@ in module \verb@TypeChecker@: \begin{verbatim} module TypeChecker { /** Type environments are lists of bindings that associate a * name with a type scheme. */ type Env = List[(String, TypeScheme)]; \end{verbatim} There is also an exception \verb@TypeError@, which is thrown when type checking fails. Exceptions are modeled as case classes that inherit from the predefined \verb@Exception@ class. \begin{verbatim} case class TypeError(msg: String) extends Exception(msg); \end{verbatim} The \verb@Exception@ class defines a \verb@throw@ method which causes the exception to be thrown. The \verb@TypeChecker@ module contains several utility functions. Function \verb@tyvars@ yields the set of free type variables of a type, of a type scheme, of a list of types, or of an environment. Its implementation is as four overloaded functions, one for each type of argument. \begin{verbatim} def tyvars(t: Type): ListSet[String] = t match { case Tyvar(a) => new ListSet([a]) case Arrow(t1, t2) => tyvars(t1) union tyvars(t2) case Tycon(k, ts) => tyvars(ts) } def tyvars(ts: TypeScheme): ListSet[String] = ts match { case TypeScheme(as, t) => tyvars(t) diff new ListSet(as) } def tyvars(ts: List[Type]): ListSet[String] = ts match { case [] => new ListSet[String]([]) case t :: ts1 => tyvars(t) union tyvars(ts1) } def tyvars(env: Env): ListSet[String] = env match { case [] => new ListSet[String]([]) case (x, t) :: env1 => tyvars(t) union tyvars(env1) } \end{verbatim} The next utility function, \verb@lookup@, returns the type scheme associated with a given variable name in the given environment, or returns \verb@null@ if no binding for the variable exists in the environment. \begin{verbatim} def lookup(env: Env, x: String): TypeScheme = env match { case [] => null case (y, t) :: env1 => if (x == y) t else lookup(env1, x) } \end{verbatim} The next utility function, \verb@gen@, returns the type scheme that results from generalizing a given type in a given environment. This means that all type variables that occur in the type but not in the environment are universally quantified. \begin{verbatim} def gen(env: Env, t: Type): TypeScheme = TypeScheme((tyvars(t) diff tyvars(env)).elems, t); \end{verbatim} The next utility function, \verb@mgu@, computes the most general unifier of two given types $t$ and $u$ under a pre-existing substitution $s$. That is, it returns the most general substitution $s'$ which extends $s$, and which makes $s'(t)$ and $s'(u)$ equal types. The function throws a \verb@TypeError@ exception if no such substitution exists. This can happen because the two types have different type constructors at corresponding places, or because a type variable is unified with a type that contains the type variable itself. \begin{verbatim} def mgu(t: Type, u: Type)(s: Subst): Subst = (s(t), s(u)) match { case (Tyvar( a), Tyvar(b)) if a == b => s case (Tyvar(a), _) => if (tyvars(u) contains a) TypeError("unification failure: occurs check").throw else s.extend(Tyvar(a), u) case (_, Tyvar(a)) => mgu(u, t)(s) case (Arrow(t1, t2), Arrow(u1, u2)) => mgu(t1, u1)(mgu(t2, u2)(s)) case (Tycon(k1, ts), Tycon(k2, us)) if k1 == k2 => (s :_foldl ((ts zip us) map (case (t,u) => mgu(t,u)))) { s, f => f(s) } case _ => TypeError("unification failure").throw } \end{verbatim} The main task of the type checker is implemented by function \verb@tp@. This function takes as first parameters an environment $env$, a term $e$ and a proto-type $t$. As a second parameter it takes a pre-existing substitution $s$. The function yields a substitution $s'$ that extends $s$ and that turns $s'(env) \ts e: s'(t)$ into a derivable type judgment according to the derivation rules of the Hindley/Milner type system \cite{hindley-milner}. A \verb@TypeError@ exception is thrown if no such substitution exists. \begin{verbatim} def tp(env: Env, e: Term, t: Type)(s: Subst): Subst = e match { case Var(x) => { val u = lookup(env, x); if (u == null) TypeError("undefined: x").throw else mgu(u.newInstance, t)(s) } case Lam(x, e1) => { val a = newTyvar, b = newTyvar; val s1 = mgu(t, Arrow(a, b))(s); val env1 = (x, TypeScheme([], a)) :: env; tp(env1, e1, b)(s1) } case App(e1, e2) => { val a = newTyvar; val s1 = tp(env, e1, Arrow(a, t))(s); tp(env, e2, a)(s1) } case Let(x, e1, e2) => { val a = newTyvar; val s1 = tp(env, e1, a)(s); tp((x, gen(env, s1(a))) :: env, e2, t)(s1) } } \end{verbatim} The next function, \verb@typeOf@ is a simplified facade for \verb@tp@. It computes the type of a given term $e$ in a given environment $env$. It does so by creating a fresh type variable \verb$a$, computing a typing substitution that makes \verb@env $\ts$ e: a@ into a derivable type judgment, and finally by returning the result of applying the substitution to $a$. \begin{verbatim} def typeOf(env: Env, e: Term): Type = { val a = newTyvar; tp(env, e, a)(EmptySubst)(a) } } \end{verbatim} This concludes the presentation of the type inference system. To apply the system, it is convenient to have a predefined environment that contains bindings for commonly used constants. The module \verb@Predefined@ defines an environment \verb@env@ that contains bindings for booleans, numbers and lists together with some primitive operations over these types. It also defines a fixed point operator \verb@fix@, which can be used to represent recursion. \begin{verbatim} module Predefined { val booleanType = Tycon("Boolean", []); val intType = Tycon("Int", []); def listType(t: Type) = Tycon("List", [t]); private def gen(t: Type): TypeScheme = TypeChecker.gen([], t); private val a = newTyvar; val env = [ ("true", gen(booleanType)), ("false", gen(booleanType)), ("$\mbox{\prog{if}}$", gen(Arrow(booleanType, Arrow(a, Arrow(a, a))))), ("zero", gen(intType)), ("succ", gen(Arrow(intType, intType))), ("$\mbox{\prog{nil}}$", gen(listType(a))), ("cons", gen(Arrow(a, Arrow(listType(a), listType(a))))), ("isEmpty", gen(Arrow(listType(a), booleanType))), ("head", gen(Arrow(listType(a), a))), ("tail", gen(Arrow(listType(a), listType(a)))), ("fix", gen(Arrow(Arrow(a, a), a))) ]; } \end{verbatim} Here's an example how the type inferencer is used. Let's define a function \verb@showType@ which returns the type of a given term computed in the predefined environment \verb@Predefined.env@: \begin{verbatim} > def showType(e: Term) = TypeChecker.typeOf(Predefined.env, e); \end{verbatim} Then the application \begin{verbatim} > showType(Lam("x", App(App(Var("cons"), Var("x")), Var("$\mbox{\prog{nil}}$")))); \end{verbatim} would give the response \begin{verbatim} > TypeScheme([a0], Arrow(Tyvar(a0), Tycon("List", [Tyvar(a0)]))); \end{verbatim} \exercise Add \verb@toString@ methods to the data constructors of class \verb@Type@ and \verb@TypeScheme@ which represent types in a more natural way. \chapter{Abstractions for Concurrency}\label{sec:ex-concurrency} This section reviews common concurrent programming patterns and shows how they can be implemented in Scala. \section{Signals and Monitors} \example The {\em monitor} provides the basic means for mutual exclusion of processes in Scala. It is defined as follows. \begin{verbatim} class Monitor { def synchronized [a] (def e: a): a; } \end{verbatim} The \verb@synchronized@ method in class \verb@Monitor@ executes its argument computation \verb@e@ in mutual exclusive mode -- at any one time, only one thread can execute a \verb@synchronized@ argument of a given monitor. Threads can suspend inside a monitor by waiting on a signal. The \verb@Signal@ class offers two methods \verb@send@ and \verb@wait@. Threads that call the \verb@wait@ method wait until a \verb@send@ method of the same signal is called subsequently by some other thread. Calls to \verb@send@ with no threads waiting for the signal are ignored. Here is the specification of the \verb@Signal@ class. \begin{verbatim} class Signal { def wait: unit; def wait(msec: long): unit; def notify: unit; def notifyAll: unit; } \end{verbatim} A signal also implements a timed form of \verb@wait@, which blocks only as long as no signal was received or the specified amount of time (given in milliseconds) has elapsed. Furthermore, there is a \verb@notifyAll@ method which unblocks all threads which wait for the signal. \verb@Signal@ and \verb@Monitor@ are primitive classes in Scala which are implemented in terms of the underlying runtime system. As an example of how monitors and signals are used, here is is an implementation of a bounded buffer class. \begin{verbatim} class BoundedBuffer[a](N: int) extends Monitor { var in = 0, out = 0, n = 0; val elems = new Array[a](N); val nonEmpty = new Signal; val nonFull = new Signal; \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def put(x: a) = synchronized { if (n == N) nonFull.wait; elems(in) = x ; in = (in + 1) % N ; n = n + 1; if (n == 1) nonEmpty.send; } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def get: a = synchronized { if (n == 0) nonEmpty.wait val x = elems(out) ; out = (out + 1) % N ; n = n - 1; if (n == N - 1) nonFull.send; x } } \end{verbatim} And here is a program using a bounded buffer to communicate between a producer and a consumer process. \begin{verbatim} val buf = new BoundedBuffer[String](10) fork { while (true) { val s = produceString ; buf.put(s) } } fork { while (true) { val s = buf.get ; consumeString(s) } } \end{verbatim} The \verb@fork@ method spawns a new thread which executes the expression given in the parameter. It can be defined as follows. \begin{verbatim} def fork(def e: unit) = { val p = new Thread { def run = e; } p.run } \end{verbatim} \comment{ \section{Logic Variable} A logic variable (or lvar for short) offers operations \verb@:=@ and \verb@value@ to define the variable and to retrieve its value. Variables can be \verb@define@d only once. A call to \verb@value@ blocks until the variable has been defined. Logic variables can be implemented as follows. \begin{verbatim} class LVar[a] extends Monitor { private val defined = new Signal private var isDefined: boolean = false private var v: a def value = synchronized { if (!isDefined) defined.wait v } def :=(x: a) = synchronized { v = x ; isDefined = true ; defined.send } } \end{verbatim} } \section{SyncVars} A synchronized variable (or syncvar for short) offers \verb@get@ and \verb@put@ operations to read and set the variable. \verb@get@ operations block until the variable has been defined. An \verb@unset@ operation resets the variable to undefined state. Synchronized variables can be implemented as follows. \begin{verbatim} class SyncVar[a] extends Monitor { private val defined = new Signal; private var isDefined: boolean = false; private var value: a; def get = synchronized { if (!isDefined) defined.wait; value } def set(x: a) = synchronized { value = x ; isDefined = true ; defined.send; } def isSet: boolean = isDefined; def unset = synchronized { isDefined = false; } } \end{verbatim} \section{Futures} \label{sec:futures} A {\em future} is a value which is computed in parallel to some other client thread, to be used by the client thread at some future time. Futures are used in order to make good use of parallel processing resources. A typical usage is: \begin{verbatim} val x = future(someLengthyComputation); anotherLengthyComputation; val y = f(x()) + g(x()); \end{verbatim} Futures can be implemented in Scala as follows. \begin{verbatim} def future[a](def p: a): unit => a = { val result = new SyncVar[a]; fork { result.set(p) } (=> result.get) } \end{verbatim} The \verb@future@ method gets as parameter a computation \verb@p@ to be performed. The type of the computation is arbitrary; it is represented by \verb@future@'s type parameter \verb@a@. The \verb@future@ method defines a guard \verb@result@, which takes a parameter representing the result of the computation. It then forks off a new thread that computes the result and invokes the \verb@result@ guard when it is finished. In parallel to this thread, the function returns an anonymous function of type \verb@a@. When called, this functions waits on the result guard to be invoked, and, once this happens returns the result argument. At the same time, the function reinvokes the \verb@result@ guard with the same argument, so that future invocations of the function can return the result immediately. \section{Parallel Computations} The next example presents a function \verb@par@ which takes a pair of computations as parameters and which returns the results of the computations in another pair. The two computations are performed in parallel. \begin{verbatim} def par[a, b](def xp: a, def yp: b): (a, b) = { val y = new SyncVar[a]; fork { y.set(yp) } (xp, y) } \end{verbatim} The next example presents a function \verb@replicate@ which performs a number of replicates of a computation in parallel. Each replication instance is passed an integer number which identifies it. \begin{verbatim} def replicate(start: int, end: int)(def p: int => unit): unit = { if (start == end) { } else if (start + 1 == end) { p(start) } else { val mid = (start + end) / 2; par ( replicate(start, mid)(p), replicate(mid, end)(p) ) } } \end{verbatim} The next example shows how to use \verb@replicate@ to perform parallel computations on all elements of an array. \begin{verbatim} def parMap[a,b](f: a => b, xs: Array[a]): Array[b] = { val results = new Array[b](xs.length); replicate(0, xs.length) { i => results(i) = f(xs(i)) } results } \end{verbatim} \section{Semaphores} A common mechanism for process synchronization is a {\em lock} (or: {\em semaphore}). A lock offers two atomic actions: \prog{acquire} and \prog{release}. Here's the implementation of a lock in Scala: \begin{verbatim} class Lock extends Monitor with Signal { var available = true; def acquire = { if (!available) wait; available = false } def release = { available = true; notify } } \end{verbatim} \section{Readers/Writers} A more complex form of synchronization distinguishes between {\em readers} which access a common resource without modifying it and {\em writers} which can both access and modify it. To synchronize readers and writers we need to implement operations \prog{startRead}, \prog{startWrite}, \prog{endRead}, \prog{endWrite}, such that: \begin{itemize} \item there can be multiple concurrent readers, \item there can only be one writer at one time, \item pending write requests have priority over pending read requests, but don't preempt ongoing read operations. \end{itemize} The following implementation of a readers/writers lock is based on the {\em message space} concept (see Section~\ref{sec:messagespace}). \begin{verbatim} class ReadersWriters { val m = new MessageSpace; private case class Writers(n: int), Readers(n: int); Writers(0); Readers(0); def startRead = m receive { case Writers(n) if n == 0 => m receive { case Readers(n) => Writers(0) ; Readers(n+1); } } def startWrite = m receive { case Writers(n) => Writers(n+1); m receive { case Readers(n) if n == 0 => } } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def endRead = receive { case Readers(n) => Readers(n-1) } def endWrite = receive { case Writers(n) => Writers(n-1) ; if (n == 0) Readers(0) } } \end{verbatim} \section{Asynchronous Channels} A fundamental way of interprocess communication is the asynchronous channel. Its implementation makes use the following class for linked lists: \begin{verbatim} class LinkedList[a](x: a) { val elem: a = x; var next: LinkedList[a] = null; } \end{verbatim} To facilitate insertion and deletion of elements into linked lists, every reference into a linked list points to the node which precedes the node which conceptually forms the top of the list. Empty linked lists start with a dummy node, whose successor is \verb@null@. The channel class uses a linked list to store data that has been sent but not read yet. In the opposite direction, a signal \verb@moreData@ is used to wake up reader threads that wait for data. \begin{verbatim} class Channel[a] { private val written = new LinkedList[a](null); private var lastWritten = written; private val moreData = new Signal; def write(x: a) = { lastWritten.next = new LinkedList(x); lastWritten = lastWritten.next; moreData.notify; } def read: a = { if (written.next == null) moreData.wait; written = written.next; written.elem; } } \end{verbatim} \section{Synchronous Channels} Here's an implementation of synchronous channels, where the sender of a message blocks until that message has been received. Synchronous channels only need a single variable to store messages in transit, but three signals are used to coordinate reader and writer processes. \begin{verbatim} class SyncChannel[a] { val data = new SyncVar[a]; def write(x: a): unit = synchronized { val empty = new Signal, full = new Signal, idle = new Signal; if (data.isSet) idle.wait; data.put(x); full.send; empty.wait; data.unset; idle.send; } def read: a = synchronized { if (!(data.isSet)) full.wait; x = data.get; empty.send; x } } \end{verbatim} \section{Workers} Here's an implementation of a {\em compute server} in Scala. The server implements a \verb@future@ method which evaluates a given expression in parallel with its caller. Unlike the implementation in Section~\ref{sec:futures} the server computes futures only with a predefined number of threads. A possible implementation of the server could run each thread on a separate processor, and could hence avoid the overhead inherent in context-switching several threads on a single processor. \begin{verbatim} class ComputeServer(n: int) { private abstract class Job { abstract type t; def task: t; def return(x: t): unit; } private val openJobs = new Channel[Job] private def processor: unit = { while (true) { val job = openJobs.read; job.return(job.task) } } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def future[a](def p: a): () => a = { val reply = new SyncVar[a]; openJobs.write( new Job { type t = a; def task = p; def return(x: a) = reply.set(x); } ) (=> reply.get) } replicate(n){processor}; } \end{verbatim} Expressions to be computed (i.e. arguments to calls of \verb@future@) are written to the \verb@openJobs@ channel. A {\em job} is an object with \begin{itemize} \item An abstract type \verb@t@ which describes the result of the compute job. \item A parameterless \verb@task@ method of type \verb@t@ which denotes the expression to be computed. \item A \verb@return@ method which consumes the result once it is computed. \end{itemize} The compute server creates $n$ \verb@processor@ processes as part of its initialization. Every such process repeatedly consumes an open job, evaluates the job's \verb@task@ method and passes the result on to the job's \verb@return@ method. The polymorphic \verb@future@ method creates a new job where the \verb@return@ method is implemented by a guard named \verb@reply@ and inserts this job into the set of open jobs by calling the \verb@isOpen@ guard. It then waits until the corresponding \verb@reply@ guard is called. The example demonstrates the use of abstract types. The abstract type \verb@t@ keeps track of the result type of a job, which can vary between different jobs. Without abstract types it would be impossible to implement the same class to the user in a statically type-safe way, without relying on dynamic type tests and type casts. \section{Message Spaces} \label{sec:messagespace} Message spaces are high-level, flexible constructs for process synchronization and communication. A {\em message} in this context is an arbitrary object. There is a special message \verb@TIMEOUT@ which is used to signal a time-out. \begin{verbatim} case class TIMEOUT; \end{verbatim} Message spaces implement the following signature. \begin{verbatim} class MessageSpace { def send(msg: Any): unit; def receive[a](f: PartialFunction[Any, a]): a; def receiveWithin[a](msec: long)(f: PartialFunction[Any, a]): a; } \end{verbatim} The state of a message space consists of a multi-set of messages. Messages are added to the space using the \verb@send@ method. Messages are removed using the \verb@receive@ method, which is passed a message processor \verb@f@ as argument, which is a partial function from messages to some arbitrary result type. Typically, this function is implemented as a pattern matching expression. The \verb@receive@ method blocks until there is a message in the space for which its message processor is defined. The matching message is then removed from the space and the blocked thread is restarted by applying the message processor to the message. Both sent messages and receivers are ordered in time. A receiver $r$ is applied to a matching message $m$ only if there is no other (message, receiver) pair which precedes $(m, r)$ in the partial ordering on pairs that orders each component in time. As a simple example of how message spaces are used, consider a one-place buffer: \begin{verbatim} class OnePlaceBuffer { private val m = new MessageSpace; \=// An internal message space private case class Empty, Full(x: int); \>// Types of messages we deal with m send Empty; \>// Initialization def write(x: int): unit = m receive { case Empty => m send Full(x) } def read: int = m receive { case Full(x) => m send Empty ; x } } \end{verbatim} Here's how the message space class can be implemented: \begin{verbatim} class MessageSpace { private abstract class Receiver extends Signal { def isDefined(msg: Any): boolean; var msg = null; } \end{verbatim} We define an internal class for receivers with a test method \verb@isDefined@, which indicates whether the receiver is defined for a given message. The receiver inherits from class \verb@Signal@ a \verb@notify@ method which is used to wake up a receiver thread. When the receiver thread is woken up, the message it needs to be applied to is stored in the \verb@msg@ variable of \verb@Receiver@. \begin{verbatim} private val sent = new LinkedList[Any](null) ; private var lastSent = sent; private var receivers = new LinkedList[Receiver](null); private var lastReceiver = receivers; \end{verbatim} The message space class maintains two linked lists, one for sent but unconsumed messages, the other for waiting receivers. \begin{verbatim} def send(msg: Any): unit = synchronized { var r = receivers, r1 = r.next; while (r1 != null && !r1.elem.isDefined(msg)) { r = r1; r1 = r1.next; } if (r1 != null) { r.next = r1.next; r1.elem.msg = msg; r1.elem.notify; } else { l = new LinkedList(msg); lastSent.next = l; lastSent = l; } } \end{verbatim} The \verb@send@ method first checks whether a waiting receiver is applicable to the sent message. If yes, the receiver is notified. Otherwise, the message is appended to the linked list of sent messages. \begin{verbatim} def receive[a](f: PartialFunction[Any, a]): a = { val msg: Any = synchronized { var s = sent, s1 = s.next; while (s1 != null && !f.isDefined(s1.elem)) { s = s1; s1 = s1.next } if (s1 != null) { s.next = s1.next; s1.elem } else { val r = new LinkedList( new Receiver { def isDefined(msg: Any) = f.isDefined(msg); }); lastReceiver.next = r; lastReceiver = r; r.elem.wait; r.elem.msg } } f(msg) } \end{verbatim} The \verb@receive@ method first checks whether the message processor function \verb@f@ can be applied to a message that has already been sent but that was not yet consumed. If yes, the thread continues immediately by applying \verb@f@ to the message. Otherwise, a new receiver is created and linked into the \verb@receivers@ list, and the thread waits for a notification on this receiver. Once the thread is woken up again, it continues by applying \verb@f@ to the message that was stored in the receiver. The message space class also offers a method \verb@receiveWithin@ which blocks for only a specified maximal amount of time. If no message is received within the specified time interval (given in milliseconds), the message processor argument $f$ will be unblocked with the special \verb@TIMEOUT@ message. The implementation of \verb@receiveWithin@ is quite similar to \verb@receive@: \begin{verbatim} def receiveWithin[a](msec: long)(f: PartialFunction[Any, a]): a = { val msg: Any = synchronized { var s = sent, s1 = s.next; while (s1 != null && !f.isDefined(s1.elem)) { s = s1; s1 = s1.next ; } if (s1 != null) { s.next = s1.next; s1.elem } else { val r = new LinkedList( new Receiver { def isDefined(msg: Any) = f.isDefined(msg); } ) lastReceiver.next = r; lastReceiver = r; r.elem.wait(msec); if (r.elem.msg == null) r.elem.msg = TIMEOUT; r.elem.msg } } f(msg) } } // end MessageSpace \end{verbatim} The only differences are the timed call to \verb@wait@, and the statement following it. \section{Actors} \label{sec:actors} Chapter~\ref{sec:ex-auction} sketched as a program example the implementation of an electronic auction service. This service was based on high-level actor processes, that work by inspecting messages in their mailbox using pattern matching. An actor is simply a thread whose communication primitives are those of a message space. Actors are therefore defined by a mixin composition of threads and message spaces. \begin{verbatim} abstract class Actor extends Thread with MessageSpace; \end{verbatim} \comment{ As an extended example of an application that uses actors, we come back to the auction server example of Section~\ref{sec:ex-auction}. The following code implements: \begin{figure}[thb] \begin{verbatim} class AuctionMessage; case class \=Offer(bid: int, client: Process), \=// make a bid \>Inquire(client: Process) extends AuctionMessage \>// inquire status class AuctionReply; case class \=Status(asked; int, expiration: Date), \>// asked sum, expiration date \>BestOffer, \>// yours is the best offer \>BeatenOffer(maxBid: int), \>// offer beaten by maxBid \>AuctionConcluded(seller: Process, client: Process), \>// auction concluded \>AuctionFailed \>// failed with no bids \>AuctionOver extends AuctionReply \>// bidding is closed \end{verbatim} \end{figure} \begin{verbatim} class Auction(seller: Process, minBid: int, closing: Date) extends Process { val timeToShutdown = 36000000 // msec val delta = 10 // bid increment \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def run = { var askedBid = minBid var maxBidder: Process = null while (true) { receiveWithin ((closing - Date.currentDate).msec) { case Offer(bid, client) => { if (bid >= askedBid) { if (maxBidder != null && maxBidder != client) { maxBidder send BeatenOffer(bid) } maxBidder = client askedBid = bid + delta client send BestOffer } else client send BeatenOffer(maxBid) } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} case Inquire(client) => { client send Status(askedBid, closing) } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} case TIMEOUT => { if (maxBidder != null) { val reply = AuctionConcluded(seller, maxBidder) maxBidder send reply seller send reply } else seller send AuctionFailed receiveWithin (timeToShutdown) { case Offer(_, client) => client send AuctionOver ; discardAndContinue case _ => discardAndContinue case TIMEOUT => stop } } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} case _ => discardAndContinue } } } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def houseKeeping: int = { val Limit = 100 var nWaiting: int = 0 receiveWithin(0) { case _ => nWaiting = nWaiting + 1 if (nWaiting > Limit) { receiveWithin(0) { case Offer(_, _) => continue case TIMEOUT => case _ => discardAndContinue } } else continue case TIMEOUT => } } } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} class Bidder (auction: Process, minBid: int, maxBid: int) extends Process { val MaxTries = 3 val Unknown = -1 var nextBid = Unknown \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def getAuctionStatus = { var nTries = 0 while (nextBid == Unknown && nTries < MaxTries) { auction send Inquiry(this) nTries = nTries + 1 receiveWithin(waitTime) { case Status(bid, _) => bid match { case None => nextBid = minBid case Some(curBid) => nextBid = curBid + Delta } case TIMEOUT => case _ => continue } } status } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def bid: unit = { if (nextBid < maxBid) { auction send Offer(nextBid, this) receive { case BestOffer => receive { case BeatenOffer(bestBid) => nextBid = bestBid + Delta bid case AuctionConcluded(seller, client) => transferPayment(seller, nextBid) case _ => continue } case BeatenOffer(bestBid) => nextBid = nextBid + Delta bid case AuctionOver => case _ => continue } } } \end{verbatim} \begin{verbatim} def run = { getAuctionStatus if (nextBid != Unknown) bid } def transferPayment(seller: Process, amount: int) } \end{verbatim} } %\todo{We also need some XML examples.} \end{document} case ([], _) => ys case (_, []) => xs case (x :: xs1, y :: ys1) => if (x < y) x :: merge(xs1, ys) else y :: merge(xs, ys1) } def split (xs: List[a]): (List[a], List[a]) = xs match { case [] => ([], []) case [x] => (x, []) case y :: z :: xs1 => val (ys, zs) = split(xs1) ; (y :: ys, z :: zs) } def sort(xs: List[a]): List[a] = { val (ys, zs) = split(xs) merge(sort(ys), sort(zs)) } def sort(a:Array[String]): Array[String] = { val pivot = a(a.length / 2) sort(a.filter(x => x < pivot)) ++ a.filter(x => x == pivot) ++ sort(a.filter(x => x > pivot)) } def sort(a:Array[String]): Array[String] = { def swap (i: int, j: int): unit = { val t = a(i) ; a(i) = a(j) ; a(j) = t } def sort1(l: int, r: int): unit = { val pivot = a((l + r) / 2) var i = l, j = r while (i <= r) { while (i < r && a(i) < pivot) { i = i + 1 } while (j > l && a(j) > pivot) { j = j - 1 } if (i <= j) { swap(i, j) i = i + 1 j = j - 1 } } if (l < j) sort1(l, j) if (j < r) sort1(i, r) } sort1(0, a.length - 1) } class Array[a] { def copy(to: Array[a], src: int, dst: int, len: int): unit val length: int val apply(i: int): a val update(i: int, x: a): unit def filter (p: a => boolean): Array[a] = { val temp = new Array[a](a.length) var i = 0, j = 0 for (i < a.length, i = i + 1) { val x = a(i) if (p(x)) { temp(j) = x; j = j + 1 } } val res = new Array[a](j) temp.copy(res, 0, 0, j) } def ++ (that: Array[a]): Array[a] = { val a = new Array[a](this.length + that.length) this.copy(a, 0, 0, this.length) that.copy(a, 0, this.length, that.length) } static def concat [a] (as: List[Array[a]]) = { val l = (as map (a => a.length)).sum val dst = new Array[a](l) var j = 0 as forall {a => { a.copy(dst, j, a.length) ; j = j + a.length }} dst } } module ABT extends AlgBinTree[kt, vt] ABT.Map