When I do this it works (these are the last 4 lines before the end of a method TWEAK. However, my first attempt had no line #3 and failed because %!columns was empty...
constant #alphi = 'A'..Inf;
1 if ! %!columns {
2 #alphi[0..^#!data.first.elems].map( {%!columns{$_} = $++} );
3 %!columns #<== have to "touch" %!columns to avoid empty hash
4 }
I am cool that the issue is fixed by "touching" the attribute ... but seems like magic ... can anyone explain why?
Without the %!columns on line three, the call to map is lazy and thus never gets evaluated (the %!columns call wants to check the current value of columns, which implies eagerness).
To more explicitly invoke eagerness, either use the eager statement prefix (shown below) or switch to a for loop, which is eager by default.
I think this code will behave the way you want it to:
if ! %!columns {
eager #alphi[0..^#!data.first.elems].map( {%!columns{$_} = $++} );
}
Related
I have the following Raku code:
class Thing {
method close {
say "closed";
}
};
for 1..1000 {
my $x will leave { .close } = Thing.new;
}
Running it, I get the error:
Lexical with name '$x' does not exist in this frame
in block <unit> at c.raku line 7
Interestingly, this only happens if the number of iterations is high enough (with 500 or 100, I do not get any error messages).
If I change the body of the cycle to
my $x = Thing.new;
LEAVE $x.close;
then everything works without errors as well.
What is happening here? Did I misunderstand the will leave construct? (It seems to me the two versions should be equivalent.)
EDIT: Further observation – when running the code multiple times, the error appears nondeterministically. This suggests that the problem is somehow connected to garbage collection, but I am still confused as to what actually happens here.
I am using Rakudo v2021.03.
This is a bug. Have made an issue for it: https://github.com/rakudo/rakudo/issues/4403
I suggest using the workaround in the meantime.
I want to make a hash of sets. Well, SetHashes, since they need to be mutable.
In fact, I would like to initialize my Hash with multiple identical copies of the same SetHash.
I have an array containing the keys for the new hash: #keys
And I have my SetHash already initialized in a scalar variable: $set
I'm looking for a clean way to initialize the hash.
This works:
my %hash = ({ $_ => $set.clone } for #keys);
(The parens are needed for precedence; without them, the assignment to %hash is part of the body of the for loop. I could change it to a non-postfix for loop or make any of several other minor changes to get the same result in a slightly different way, but that's not what I'm interested in here.)
Instead, I was kind of hoping I could use one of Raku's nifty hyper-operators, maybe like this:
my %hash = #keys »=>» $set;
That expression works a treat when $set is a simple string or number, but a SetHash?
Array >>=>>> SetHash can never work reliably: order of keys in SetHash is indeterminate
Good to know, but I don't want it to hyper over the RHS, in any order. That's why I used the right-pointing version of the hyperop: so it would instead replicate the RHS as needed to match it up to the LHS. In this sort of expression, is there any way to say "Yo, Raku, treat this as a scalar. No, really."?
I tried an explicit Scalar wrapper (which would make the values harder to get at, but it was an experiment):
my %map = #keys »=>» $($set,)
And that got me this message:
Lists on either side of non-dwimmy hyperop of infix:«=>» are not of the same length while recursing
left: 1 elements, right: 4 elements
So it has apparently recursed into the list on the left and found a single key and is trying to map it to a set on the right which has 4 elements. Which is what I want - the key mapped to the set. But instead it's mapping it to the elements of the set, and the hyperoperator is pointing the wrong way for that combination of sizes.
So why is it recursing on the right at all? I thought a Scalar container would prevent that. The documentation says it prevents flattening; how is this recursion not flattening? What's the distinction being drawn?
The error message says the version of the hyperoperator I'm using is "non-dwimmy", which may explain why it's not in fact doing what I mean, but is there maybe an even-less-dwimmy version that lets me be even more explicit? I still haven't gotten my brain aligned well enough with the way Raku works for it to be able to tell WIM reliably.
I'm looking for a clean way to initialize the hash.
One idiomatic option:
my %hash = #keys X=> $set;
See X metaoperator.
The documentation says ... a Scalar container ... prevents flattening; how is this recursion not flattening? What's the distinction being drawn?
A cat is an animal, but an animal is not necessarily a cat. Flattening may act recursively, but some operations that act recursively don't flatten. Recursive flattening stops if it sees a Scalar. But hyperoperation isn't flattening. I get where you're coming from, but this is not the real problem, or at least not a solution.
I had thought that hyperoperation had two tests controlling recursing:
Is it hyperoperating a nodal operation (eg .elems)? If so, just apply it like a parallel shallow map (so don't recurse). (The current doc quite strongly implies that nodal can only be usefully applied to a method, and only a List one (or augmentation thereof) rather than any routine that might get hyperoperated. That is much more restrictive than I was expecting, and I'm sceptical of its truth.)
Otherwise, is a value Iterable? If so, then recurse into that value. In general the value of a Scalar automatically behaves as the value it contains, and that applies here. So Scalars won't help.
A SetHash doesn't do the Iterable role. So I think this refusal to hyperoperate with it is something else.
I just searched the source and that yields two matches in the current Rakudo source, both in the Hyper module, with this one being the specific one we're dealing with:
multi method infix(List:D \left, Associative:D \right) {
die "{left.^name} $.name {right.^name} can never work reliably..."
}
For some reason hyperoperation explicitly rejects use of Associatives on either the right or left when coupled with the other side being a List value.
Having pursued the "blame" (tracking who made what changes) I arrived at the commit "Die on Associative <<op>> Iterable" which says:
This can never work due to the random order of keys in the Associative.
This used to die before, but with a very LTA error about a Pair.new()
not finding a suitable candidate.
Perhaps this behaviour could be refined so that the determining factor is, first, whether an operand does the Iterable role, and then if it does, and is Associative, it dies, but if it isn't, it's accepted as a single item?
A search for "can never work reliably" in GH/rakudo/rakudo issues yields zero matches.
Maybe file an issue? (Update I filed "RFC: Allow use of hyperoperators with an Associative that does not do Iterable role instead of dying with "can never work reliably".)
For now we need to find some other technique to stop a non-Iterable Associative being rejected. Here I use a Capture literal:
my %hash = #keys »=>» \($set);
This yields: {a => \(SetHash.new("b","a","c")), b => \(SetHash.new("b","a","c")), ....
Adding a custom op unwraps en passant:
sub infix:« my=> » ($lhs, $rhs) { $lhs => $rhs[0] }
my %hash = #keys »my=>» \($set);
This yields the desired outcome: {a => SetHash(a b c), b => SetHash(a b c), ....
my %hash = ({ $_ => $set.clone } for #keys);
(The parens seem to be needed so it can tell that the curlies are a block instead of a Hash literal...)
No. That particular code in curlies is a Block regardless of whether it's in parens or not.
More generally, Raku code of the form {...} in term position is almost always a Block.
For an explanation of when a {...} sequence is a Hash, and how to force it to be one, see my answer to the Raku SO Is that a Hash or a Block?.
Without the parens you've written this:
my %hash = { block of code } for #keys
which attempts to iterate #keys, running the code my %hash = { block of code } for each iteration. The code fails because you can't assign a block of code to a hash.
Putting parens around the ({ block of code } for #keys) part completely alters the meaning of the code.
Now it runs the block of code for each iteration. And it concatenates the result of each run into a list of results, each of which is a Pair generated by the code $_ => $set.clone. Then, when the for iteration has completed, that resulting list of pairs is assigned, once, to my %hash.
I'm making a little text adventure in Smalltalk. It's made up of "screens" that have their texts and choices for other screens included. Since I want the game to be dynamic, I also want to include branching. For instance, if the player is at a blacksmith and wants to buy an axe, the screen the player goes to immediately checks if the player has enough money and jumps to one of two other screens based on that.
I already have this working: The screens (classes named Place) have a list where the first item is the function and the following items are the arguments. However, I have it done in a very ugly way: the first item is a string that is then compared against in a big "action" method, so it looks something like this:
game data method:
blacksmith := Place new.
blacksmith choiceText: 'I would like an axe.';
blacksmith action add: 'money'; add: 20; add: blacksmith_good; add: blacksmith_bad.
action method: (currentScreen is also a Place; the class also contains a BranchMoney method that does the actual decision making)
(currentScreen action at: 1) = 'money'
ifTrue: [
currentScreen := (currentScreen BranchMoney)
]
That's obviously not ideal, and I would like to compact it by doing something like this:
game data method:
blacksmith action add: [blacksmith BranchMoney]; add: 20; add: blacksmith_good; add: blacksmith_bad.
action method:
currentScreen := (currentScreen action at: 1)
So that instead of string checking the game would just directly proceed with the method I want it to do.
However, it doesn't seem to work - I've tried different changes to the code, and the problem seems to be that the currentScreen := (currentScreen action at: 1) line just replaces the contents of currentScreen with the code block contents – it doesn't calculate the block's contents and use its resulting value that is of type Place.
I've tried using round brackets in the game data method – that throws a list out of bounds exception, because it tries to calculate the expression immediately, before other arguments have even been added. Changing the first item name in game data method to currentScreen BranchMoney doesn't seem to make a difference.
I've also tried adding a return in the game data method, like this: blacksmith action add: [^blacksmith BranchMoney], so that it would have a value to return, no luck. Doing something like currentScreen := [^currentScreen action at: 1] in the action method doesn't work either.
For some shots in the dark, I tried the ExternalProcedure call and call: methods, but that failed too.
In Smalltalk every block is a regular object that you can store and retrieve the same you would do with any other object:
b := [self doSomething]
stores in b the block (much as b := 'Hello' stores a string in b). What I think you are missing is the #value message. To execute the block do the following
b value "execute self doSomething and answer with the result"
In case your block has one argument use #value: instead
b := [:arg | self doSomethingWith: arg]
later on
b value: 17 "execute the block passing 17 as the argument"
(for two arguments use #value:value:, for three #value:value:value: and for many #valueWithArguments:.)
Note however that this approach of using blocks and Arrays of arguments doesn't look very elegant (or even convenient). However, to help you with some better alternative we would need to learn more about your game. So, go check whether #value (and friends) let you progress a little bit and feel free to come back here with your next question. After some few iterations we could guide you towards a clearer route.
Example
b := [:m | m < 20 ifTrue: ['bad'] ifFalse: ['good']].
will produce
b value: 15 "==> 'bad'"
b value: 25 "==> 'good'"
What is it the correct syntax to assign a Seq(Seq) into multiple typed arrays without assign the Seq to an scalar first? Has the Seq to be flattened somehow? This fails:
class A { has Int $.r }
my A (#ra1, #ra2);
#create two arrays with 5 random numbers below a certain limit
#Fails: Type check failed in assignment to #ra1; expected A but got Seq($((A.new(r => 3), A.n...)
(#ra1, #ra2) =
<10 20>.map( -> $up_limit {
(^5).map({A.new( r => (^$up_limit).pick ) })
});
TL;DR Binding is faster than assignment, so perhaps this is the best practice solution to your problem:
:(#ra1, #ra2) := <10 20>.map(...);
While uglier than the solution in the accepted answer, this is algorithmically faster because binding is O(1) in contrast to assignment's O(N) in the length of the list(s) being bound.
Assigning / copying
Simplifying, your non-working code is:
(#listvar1, #listvar2) = list1, list2;
In Raku infix = means assignment / copying from the right of the = into one or more of the container variables on the left of the =.
If a variable on the left is bound to a Scalar container, then it will assign one of the values on the right. Then the assignment process starts over with the next container variable on the left and the next value on the right.
If a variable on the left is bound to an Array container, then it uses up all remaining values on the right. So your first array variable receives both list1 and list2. This is not what you want.
Simplifying, here's Christoph's answer:
#listvar1, #listvar2 Z= list1, list2;
Putting the = aside for a moment, Z is an infix version of the zip routine. It's like (a physical zip pairing up consecutive arguments on its left and right. When used with an operator it applies that operator to the pair. So you can read the above Z= as:
#listvar1 = list1;
#listvar2 = list2;
Job done?
Assignment into Array containers entails:
Individually copying as many individual items as there are in each list into the containers. (In the code in your example list1 and list2 contain 5 elements each, so there would be 10 copying operations in total.)
Forcing the containers to resize as necessary to accommodate the items.
Doubling up the memory used by the items (the original list elements and the duplicates copied into the Array elements).
Checking that the type of each item matches the element type constraint.
Assignment is in general much slower and more memory intensive than binding...
Binding
:(#listvar1, #listvar2) := list1, list2;
The := operator binds whatever's on its left to the arguments on its right.
If there's a single variable on the left then things are especially simple. After binding, the variable now refers precisely to what's on the right. (This is especially simple and fast -- a quick type check and it's done.)
But that's not so in our case.
Binding also accepts a standalone signature literal on its left. The :(...) in my answer is a standalone Signature literal.
(Signatures are typically attached to a routine without the colon prefix. For example, in sub foo (#var1, #var2) {} the (#var1, #var2) part is a signature attached to the routine foo. But as you can see, one can write a signature separately and let Raku know it's a signature by prefixing a pair of parens with a colon. A key difference is that any variables listed in the signature must have already been declared.)
When there's a signature literal on the left then binding happens according to the same logic as binding arguments in routine calls to a receiving routine's signature.
So the net result is that the variables get the values they'd have inside this sub:
sub foo (#listvar1, #listvar2) { }
foo list1, list2;
which is to say the effect is the same as:
#listvar1 := list1;
#listvar2 := list2;
Again, as with Christoph's answer, job done.
But this way we'll have avoided assignment overhead.
Not entirely sure if it's by design, but what seems to happen is that both of your sequences are getting stored into #ra1, while #ra2 remains empty. This violates the type constraint.
What does work is
#ra1, #ra2 Z= <10 20>.map(...);
I am just trying the new kotlin language. I came across sequences which generate infinite list. I generated a sequence and tried printing the first 10 elements. But the below code didnt print anything:
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
val generatePrimeFrom2 = generateSequence(3){ it + 2 }
print(generatePrimeFrom2.toList().take(10))
}
But when I changed take(10).toList() in the print statement it work fine. Why is it so ?
This code worked fine for me:
fun main(args: Array<String>) {
val generatePrimeFrom2 = generateSequence(3){ it + 2 }
print(generatePrimeFrom2.take(10).toList())
}
The generateSequence function generates a sequence that is either infinite or finishes when the lambda passed to it returns null. In your case, it is { it + 2 }, which never returns null, so the sequence is infinite.
When you call .toList() on a sequence, it will try to collect all sequence elements and thus will never stop if the sequence is infinite (unless the index overflows or an out-of-memory error happens), so it does not print anything because it does not finish.
In the second case, on contrary, you limit the number of elements in the sequence with .take(10) before trying to collect its items. Then the .toList() call simply collects the 10 items and finishes.
It may become more clear if you check this Q&A about differences between Sequence<T> and Iterable<T>: (link)
Here is the hint -> generate infinite list. In the first solution you first want to create a list (wait infinity) then take first 10 elements.
On the second snippet, from infinite list you take only first 10 elements and change it to list
generatePrimeFrom2.toList() tries to compute/create an infinite-length list.
generatePrimeFrom2.toList().take(10) then takes the first 10 elements from the infinite-length list.
It does not print because it is calculating that infinite-length list.
Whereas, generatePrimeFrom2.take(10) only tries to compute the first 10 elements.
generatePrimeFrom2.take(10).toList() converts the first 10 elements to the list.
You know, generateSequence(3){ it + 2 } does not have the end. So it has the infinite length.
Sequences do not have actual values, calculated when they are needed, but Lists have to have actual values.
I came across sequences which generate infinite list.
This is not actually correct. The main point is that a sequence is not a list. It is a lazily evaluated construct and only the items you request will actually become "materialized", i.e., their memory allocated on the heap.
That's why it's not interchangeable to write
infiniteSeq.toList().take(10)
and
infiniteSeq.take(10).toList()
The former will try to instantiate infinitely many items—and, predictably, fail at it.