Sorry for the terrible title, but I can't seem to find an allowable way to ask this question, because I don't know how to refer to the code constructs I am looking at.
Looking at this file: https://github.com/Hexworks/caves-of-zircon-tutorial/blob/master/src/main/kotlin/org/hexworks/cavesofzircon/systems/InputReceiver.kt
I don't understand what is going on here:
override fun update(entity: GameEntity<out EntityType>, context: GameContext): Boolean {
val (_, _, uiEvent, player) = context
I can understand some things.
We are overriding the update function, which is defined in the Behavior class, which is a superclass of this class.
The update function accepts two parameters. A GameEntity named entity, and a GameContext called context.
The function returns a Boolean result.
However, I do not understand the next line at all. Just open and close parentheses, two underscores as the first two parameters, and then an assignment to the context argument. What is it we are assigning the value of context to?
Based on IDE behavior, apparently the open-close parentheses are related to the constructor for GameContext. But I would not know that otherwise. I also don't understand what the meaning is of the underscores in the argument list.
And finally, I have read about the declaration-site variance keyword "out", but I don't really understand what it means here. We have GameEntity<out EntityType>. So as I understand it, that means this method produces EntityType, but does not consume it. How is that demonstrated in this code?
val (_, _, uiEvent, player) = context
You are extracting the 3rd and 4th value from the context and ignoring the first two.
Compare https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/multi-declarations.html .
About out: i don't see it being used in the code snippet you're showing. You might want to show the full method.
Also, maybe it is there only for the purpose of overriding the method, to match the signature of the function.
To cover the little bit that Incubbus's otherwise-great answer missed:
In the declaration
override fun update(entity: GameEntity<out EntityType>, // …
the out means that you could call the function and pass a GameEntity<SubclassOfEntityType> (or even a SubclassOfGameEntity<SubclassOfEntityType>).
With no out, you'd have to pass a GameEntity<EntityType> (or a SubclassOfGameEntity<EntityType>).
I guess that's inherited from the superclass method that you're overriding. After all, if the superclass method could be called with a GameEntity<SubclassOfEntityType>, then your override will need to handle that too. (The Liskov substitution principle in action!)
Related
When would we ever need with in Kotlin if we can already use apply, run, also and let?
Can anyone give me a clear example?
In most situations, a with call can be transformed to a run like this:
with(foo) {
// some code ...
}
// is the same as:
foo.run {
// the same code ...
}
run and with will both return the lambda result, and will use foo as the lambda receiver.
However, I can think of one case where this wouldn't work - when foo declares its own run method that takes a lambda, e.g.
// having something like this isn't too uncommon, right?
fun run(x: () -> Unit) {}
The lambda type doesn't have to be exactly the same as the scope function run. Any function type should work. Then overload resolution wouldn't resolve to the built-in run.
You can force the resolution by doing some casts, but using with in this case is much better. Don't you agree?
I don’t think there’s any better example than with(context). Maybe it’s not clear if English isn’t one of your primary languages, but it semantically is translated into English much clearer than context.run when the object is being used to produce a result but isn’t the primary actor, so it makes code a little easier to read.
This of course raises the question of why run exists. Well, it semantically makes more sense in English when the object is the thing doing the action. In English, the context of an action is what you’re doing something with. But if the object is what is directly producing the result, then it is running the action.
Also, you can’t do ?.with.
I want to build a class in Raku. Here's what I have so far:
unit class Vimwiki::File;
has Str:D $.path is required where *.IO.e;
method size {
return $.file.IO.s;
}
I'd like to get rid of the size method by simply making my class inherit the methods from IO::Path but I'm at a bit of a loss for how to accomplish this. Trying is IO::Path throws errors when I try to create a new object:
$vwf = Vimwiki::File.new(path => 't/test_file.md');
Must specify a non-empty string as a path
in block <unit> at t/01-basic.rakutest line 24
Must specify a non-empty string as a path
I always try a person's code when looking at someone's SO. Yours didn't work. (No declaration of $vwf.) That instantly alerts me that someone hasn't applied Minimal Reproducible Example principles.
So I did and less than 60 seconds later:
IO::Path.new
Yields the same error.
Why?
The doc for IO::Path.new shows its signature:
multi method new(Str:D $path, ...
So, IO::Path's new method expects a positional argument that's a Str. You (and my MRE) haven't passed a positional argument that's a Str. Thus the error message.
Of course, you've declared your own attribute $path, and have passed a named argument to set it, and that's unfortunately confused you because of the coincidence with the name path, but that's the fun of programming.
What next, take #1
Having a path attribute that duplicates IO::Path's strikes me as likely to lead to unnecessary complexity and/or bugs. So I think I'd nix that.
If all you're trying to do is wrap an additional check around the filename, then you could just write:
unit class Vimwiki::File is IO::Path;
method new ($path, |) { $path.IO.e ?? (callsame) !! die 'nope' }
callsame redispatches the ongoing routine call (the new method call), with the exact same arguments, to the next best fitting candidate(s) that would have been chosen if your new one containing the callsame hadn't been called. In this case, the next candidate(s) will be the existing new method(s) of IO::Path.
That seems fine to get started. Then you can add other attributes and methods as you see fit...
What next, take #2
...except for the IO::Path bug you filed, which means you can't initialize attributes in the normal way because IO::Path breaks the standard object construction protocol! :(
Liz shows one way to workaround this bug.
In an earlier version of this answer, I had not only showed but recommended another approach, namely delegation via handles instead of ordinary inheritance. I have since concluded that that was over-complicating things, and so removed it from this answer. And then I read your issue!
So I guess the delegation approach might still be appropriate as a workaround for a bug. So if later readers want to see it in action, follow #sdondley's link to their code. But I'm leaving it out of this (hopefully final! famous last words...) version of this answer in the hope that by the time you (later reader) read this, you just need to do something really simple like take #1.
fun myfunction(a:String) //this is valid
fun myfunction(var a:String) //this is invalid
fun myfunction(val a:String) //this is invalid
The support for var was removed way back from kotlin with the following reason:
The main reason is that this was confusing: people tend to think that this means passing a parameter by reference, which we do not support (it is costly at runtime). Another source of confusion is primary constructors: “val” or “var” in a constructor declaration means something different from the same thing if a function declarations (namely, it creates a property). Also, we all know that mutating parameters is no good style, so writing “val” or “var” infront of a parameter in a function, catch block of for-loop is no longer allowed.
More details in https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2013/02/kotlin-m5-1/.
Example:
data class T(val flag: Boolean) {
constructor(n: Int) : this(run {
// Some computation here...
<Boolean result>
})
}
In this example, the custom constructor needs to run some computation in order to determine which value to pass to the primary constructor, but the compiler does not accept the run, citing Cannot access 'run' before superclass constructor has been called, which, if I understand correctly, means instead of interpreting it as the non-extension run (the variant with no object reference in https://kotlinlang.org/docs/reference/scope-functions.html#function-selection), it construes it as a call to this.run (the variant with an object reference in the above table) - which is invalid as the object has not completely instantiated yet.
What can I do in order to let the compiler know I mean the run function which is not an extension method and doesn't take a scope?
Clarification: I am interested in an answer to the question as asked, not in a workaround.
I can think of several workarounds - ways to rewrite this code in a way that works as intended without calling run: extracting the code to a function; rewriting it as a (possibly highly nested) let expression; removing the run and invoking the lambda (with () after it) instead (funnily enough, IntelliJ IDEA tags that as Redundant lambda creation and suggests to Inline the body, which reinstates the non-compiling run). But the question is not how to rewrite this without using run - it's how to make run work in this context.
A good answer should do one of the following things:
Explain how to instruct the compiler to call a function rather than an extension method when a name is overloaded, in general; or
Explain how to do that specifically for run; or
Explain that (and ideally also why) it is not possible to do (ideally with supporting references); or
Explain what I got wrong, in case I got something wrong and the whole question is irrelevant (e.g. if my analysis is incorrect, and the problem is something other than the compiler construing the call to run as this.run).
If someone has a neat workaround not mentioned above they're welcome to post it in a comment - not as an answer.
In case it matters: I'm using multi-platform Kotlin 1.4.20.
Kotlin favors the receiver overload if it is in scope. The solution is to use the fully qualified name of the non-receiver function:
kotlin.run { //...
The specification is explained here.
Another option when the overloads are not in the same package is to use import renaming, but that won't work in this case since both run functions are in the same package.
How can i make an arraylist of functions, and call each function easily? I have already tried making an ArrayList<Function<Unit>>, but when i tried to do this:
functionList.forEach { it }
and this:
for(i in 0 until functionList.size) functionList[i]
When i tried doing this: it() and this: functionList[i](), but it wouldn't even compile in intellij. How can i do this in kotlin? Also, does the "Unit" in ArrayList<Function<Unit>> mean return value or parameters?
Just like this:
val funs:List<() -> Unit> = listOf({}, { println("fun")})
funs.forEach { it() }
The compiler can successfully infer the type of funs here which is List<() -> Unit>. Note that () -> Unit is a function type in Kotlin which represents a function that does not take any argument and returns Unit.
I think there are two problems with the use of the Function interface here.
The first problem is that it doesn't mean what you might think. As I understand it, it's a very general interface, implemented by all functions, however many parameters they take (or none). So it doesn't have any invoke() method. That's what the compiler is complaining about.
Function has several sub-interfaces, one for each 'arity' (i.e. one for each number of parameters): Function0 for functions that take no parameters, Function1 for functions taking one parameter, and so on. These have the appropriate invoke() methods. So you could probably fix this by replacing Function by Function0.
But that leads me on to the second problem, which is that the Function interfaces aren't supposed to be used this way. I think they're mainly for Java compatibility and/or for internal use by the compiler.
It's usually much better to use the Kotlin syntax for function types: (P1, P2...) -> R. This is much easier to read, and avoids these sorts of problems.
So the real answer is probably to replace Function<Unit> by () -> Unit.
Also, in case it's not clear, Kotlin doesn't have a void type. Instead, it has a type called Unit, which has exactly one value. This might seem strange, but makes better sense in the type system, as it lets the compiler distinguish functions that return without an explicit value, from those which don't return. (The latter might always throw an exception or exit the process. They can be defined to return Nothing -- a type with no values at all.)