I have two compare to chars:
'2' < 'a'. I typed this into my console and it returned true.
Why is that?
Because the character 2 comes before the character a in the ASCII table.
Indeed, 2's decimal code is 50, whereas a's decimal code is 97, so the latter occurs 97 - 50 = 47 characters after the former, as demonstrated by this:
iterate succ '2' !! 47
which gives back 'a'. iterate has signature (a -> a) -> a -> [a], and guess what it does, iterate f x is the infinite list [x, f x, f (f x), f (f (f x)), …], from which we take the 47th element via !! 47.
Both values, 2 and a are of type Char.
-- GHCi
:t '2' -- Char
:t 'a' -- Char
In Haskell, a Char is a 32 bit integer. So, the question is, can we use the operator < to compare these integers? Yes!
:i Char -- instance Ord Char -- Defined in `GHC.Classes'
So, Haskell says that Char can be ordered, because it is in class Ord, and we can use operators like < to compare them.
If I go on Hoogle, the Haskell version of Google, I can see the definition of the Ord class, by simply typing Ord into the search box.
(<), (<=), (>), (>=) :: a -> a -> Bool
max, min :: a -> a -> a
compare x y = if x == y then EQ
-- NB: must be '<=' not '<' to validate the
-- above claim about the minimal things that
-- can be defined for an instance of Ord:
else if x <= y then LT
else GT
x < y = case compare x y of { LT -> True; _ -> False }
x <= y = case compare x y of { GT -> False; _ -> True }
x > y = case compare x y of { GT -> True; _ -> False }
x >= y = case compare x y of { LT -> False; _ -> True }
Char is a type which is not quite UTF-32 compliant. In UTF-32, the ASCII codes are stored in the bottom 7 bits, 00 through 7F hex. In ASCII, a is 97 dec, 61 hex, and 2 is 50 dec, 32 hex and hence when we compare the 32 bit values, 2 is indeed less than a. The declared function (<) returns True.
Related
First day learning haskell, and coming from a python background I'm really having trouble debugging when it comes to type; Currently I'm working on a simple function to see if a number is a prime;
prime p = if p == 1 then False else if p == 2 then True else if maximum ([if p `mod` x == 0 then x else -1 | x<-[2..(floor(p**0.5))]]) > 0 then False else True
It works when I have a specific number instead of the generic P, but no matter what I try (and I've tried a lot, including just moving onto different problems) I always get some kind of error regarding type. For this current iteration, I'm getting the error
<interactive>:149:1: error:
* Ambiguous type variable `a0' arising from a use of `prime'
prevents the constraint `(RealFrac a0)' from being solved.
Probable fix: use a type annotation to specify what `a0' should be.
These potential instances exist:
instance RealFrac Double -- Defined in `GHC.Float'
instance RealFrac Float -- Defined in `GHC.Float'
...plus one instance involving out-of-scope types
(use -fprint-potential-instances to see them all)
* In the expression: prime 2
In an equation for `it': it = prime 2
<interactive>:149:7: error:
* Ambiguous type variable `a0' arising from the literal `2'
prevents the constraint `(Num a0)' from being solved.
Probable fix: use a type annotation to specify what `a0' should be.
These potential instances exist:
instance Num Integer -- Defined in `GHC.Num'
instance Num Double -- Defined in `GHC.Float'
instance Num Float -- Defined in `GHC.Float'
...plus two others
...plus one instance involving out-of-scope types
(use -fprint-potential-instances to see them all)
* In the first argument of `prime', namely `2'
In the expression: prime 2
In an equation for `it': it = prime 2
If someone could, as well as debugging this particular program, give me a heads up on how to think of haskell types, I'd be incredibly grateful. I've tried looking at learnyouahaskell but so far I've had no luck applying that.
In short: by using mod, floor, and (**) all at the same time, you restrict the type of p a lot, and Haskell fails to find a numerical type to call prime.
The main problem here is in the iterable of your list comprehension:
[2..(floor(p**0.5))]
Here you call p ** 0.5, but since (**) has type (**) :: Floating a => a -> a -> a, that thus means that p has to be an instance of a type that is an instance of the Floating typeclass, for example a Float. I guess you do not want that.
Your floor :: (RealFrac a, Integral b) => a -> b even makes it worse, since now p also has to be of a type that is an instance of the RealFrac typeclass.
On the other hand, you use mod :: Integral a => a -> a -> a, so it means that your p has to be Floating, as well as Integral, which are rather two disjunctive sets: although strictly speaking, we can define such a type, it is rather weird for a number to be both Integral and Floating at the same type. Float is for instance a Floating number, but not Integral, and Int is Integral, but not a Floating type.
We have to find a way to relax the constraints put on p. Since usually non-Integral numbers are no primes at all, we better thus aim to throw out floor and (**). The optimization to iterate up to the square root of p is however a good idea, but we will need to find other means to enforce that.
One way to do this is by using a takeWhile :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a] where we take elements, until the square of the numbers is greater than p, so we can rewrite the [2..(floor(p**0.5))] to:
takeWhile (\x -> x * x <= p) [2..]
We even can work only with odd elements and 2, by writing it as:
takeWhile (\x -> x * x <= p) (2:[3, 5..])
If we test this with a p that is for instance set to 99, we get:
Prelude> takeWhile (\x -> x * x <= 99) (2:[3, 5..])
[2,3,5,7,9]
If we plug that in, we relaxed the type:
prime p = if p == 1 then False else if p == 2 then True else if maximum ([if p `mod` x == 0 then x else -1 | x <- takeWhile (\x -> x * x <= p) (2:[3, 5..])]) > 0 then False else True
we actually relaxed it enough:
Prelude> :t prime
prime :: Integral a => a -> Bool
and we get:
Prelude> prime 23
True
But the code is very ugly and rather un-Haskell. First of all, you here use maximum as a trick to check if all elements satisfy a predicate. But it makes no sense to do that this way: from the moment one of the elements is dividable, we know that the number is not prime. So we can better use the all :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> Bool function. Furthermore conditions are usually checked by using pattern matching and guards, so we can write it like:
prime :: Integral a => a -> Bool
prime n | n < 2 = False
| otherwise = all ((/=) 0 . mod n) divisors
where divisors = takeWhile (\x -> x * x <= n) (2:[3, 5..])
Your code can be simplified as
prime p = if p == 1 then False else
if p == 2 then True else
if maximum ([if p `mod` x == 0 then x else -1 | x<-[2..(floor(p**0.5))]]) > 0
then False else True
=
prime p = if p == 1 then False else
if p == 2 then True else
not (maximum [if p `mod` x == 0 then x else -1 | x<-[2..floor(p**0.5)]] > 0 )
=
prime p = not ( p == 1 ) &&
( p == 2 ||
maximum [if p `mod` x == 0 then x else -1 | x<-[2..floor(p**0.5)]] <= 0 )
=
prime p = p /= 1 &&
( p == 2 ||
maximum [if p `mod` x == 0 then x else -1 | x<-[2..floor(p**0.5)]] == -1 )
=~
prime p = p == 2 || p > 2 && null [x | x <- [2..floor(p**0.5)], p `mod` x == 0]
(convince yourself in the validity of each transformation).
This still gives us a type error of course, because (**) :: Floating a => a -> a -> a and mod :: Integral a => a -> a -> a are conflicting. To counter that, just throw a fromIntegral in there:
isPrime :: Integral a => a -> Bool
isPrime p = p == 2 ||
p > 2 && null [x | x <- [2..floor(fromIntegral p**0.5)], p `mod` x == 0]
and it's working:
~> filter isPrime [1..100]
[2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,41,43,47,53,59,61,67,71,73,79,83,89,97]
import Data.Function (on)
import Data.List (sort)
data Monomial = Monomial
{ m_coeff :: Coefficient
, m_powers :: [(Variable, Power)]
}
deriving ()
instance Ord Monomial where
(>=) = on (>=) m_powers
instance Eq Monomial where
(==) = on (==) m_powers
That's an excerpt from my code, cut down to principal size. Let's try comparing:
*Main> (Monomial 1 [("x",2)]) > (Monomial (-1) [])
/* Computation hangs here */
*Main> (Monomial 1 [("x",2)]) < (Monomial (-1) [])
/* Computation hangs here */
On a side note, it's interesting that if I replace s/(>=)/(>)/g in instance declaration, it will not hang on the fist pair, but still will on the second:
*Main> (Monomial 1 [("x",2)]) > (Monomial (-1) [])
True
*Main> (Monomial 1 [("x",2)]) < (Monomial (-1) [])
/* Computation hangs here */
Although the standard states minimal declaration of Eq instance to be either$compare$ or $(>=)$.
What might be the problem here? (>=) on lists seems to work just fine.
Short answer:
You need to provide either (<=) or compare to have a complete definition for Ord, not (>=).
Longer explanation:
It is common for type classes in Haskell to have default implementations of some methods implemented in terms of other methods. You can then choose which ones you want to implement. For example, Eq looks like this:
class Eq a where
(==), (/=) :: a -> a -> Bool
x /= y = not (x == y)
x == y = not (x /= y)
Here, you must either implement (==) or (/=), otherwise trying to use either of them will cause an infinite loop. Which methods you need to provide is usually listed as the minimal complete definition in the documentation.
The minimal complete definition for Ord instances, as listed in the documentation, is either (<=) or compare. Since you've only provided (>=), you have not provided a complete definition, and therefore some of the methods will loop. You can fix it by e.g. changing your instance to provide compare instead.
instance Ord Monomial where
compare = compare `on` m_powers
Let's look at the default instance for Ord:
class (Eq a) => Ord a where
compare :: a -> a -> Ordering
(<), (<=), (>), (>=) :: a -> a -> Bool
max, min :: a -> a -> a
compare x y = if x == y then EQ
-- NB: must be '<=' not '<' to validate the
-- above claim about the minimal things that
-- can be defined for an instance of Ord:
else if x <= y then LT
else GT
x < y = case compare x y of { LT -> True; _ -> False }
x <= y = case compare x y of { GT -> False; _ -> True }
x > y = case compare x y of { GT -> True; _ -> False }
x >= y = case compare x y of { LT -> False; _ -> True }
-- These two default methods use '<=' rather than 'compare'
-- because the latter is often more expensive
max x y = if x <= y then y else x
min x y = if x <= y then x else y
So, if you supply >= and == as above, only, then you are in trouble, since:
> is defined in terms of compare
But
compare is defined in terms of <=
<= is defined in terms of compare
So you have an infinite loop!
A minimum definition must defined <= or compare, not '>=`.
I want to program a function that generates a String. The String contains only 1,0,s and S.
The numbers are binary numbers. Each number is separated through a s. And a number gives the length of the rest of the String. The capital S is the end of the String.
Examples:
func :: Integral a => a -> String
func 1
"1S"
func 3
"110s11s1S"
func 4
"1010s110s11s1S"
My problem is, that I don't know, how I can get the length of the tail ("s1S" -> tail, 11 -> head) and than get the new tail.
My new code:
>toBinary :: Integral a => a -> String
>toBinary 0 = []
>toBinary x
> | mod x 2 == 0 = '0' : toBinary (div x 2)
> | mod x 2 == 1 = '1' : toBinary (div x 2)
>zubinaer :: Integral a => a -> String
>zubinaer x = reverse (toBinary x)
>
>distan :: Integral a => a -> String
>distan n = if n > 0 then hilfsfunktion (n-1) "1S" else []
>
> where
> hilfsfunktion :: Integral a => a -> String -> String
> hilfsfunktion 0 s = s
> hilfsfunktion n s = hilfsfunktion (n-1) (zubinaer(length s + 1) ++ "s" ++ s )
Here my older code: http://hpaste.org/54863
I think you are tackling your problem from the wrong angle. In Haskell, one often thinks of lists. Actually, a String is just a list of Chars. Try to build your function from these bricks:
Write a function toBinary :: Integral a => a -> [Bool] that outputs a binary representation of its parameters. A 1 is True and a 0 is False
You can use map to turn the [Bool] into a String by replacing each boolean by a character 0 or 1.
You can use the syntax [1..n] to generate a list of integers from 1 to n. Use map to generate a list of binary representation strings.
Use intercalate from Data.List to create your string.
Since the tail is defined recursively (ex.: the "tail" of (f 4) is (f 3)) you can get the length of the tail by first getting the tail:
let the_tail = f (n-1) in
then calling the length function on it
length the_tail
So I'm writing a program which returns a procedure for some given arithmetic problem, so I wanted to instance a couple of functions to Show so that I can print the same expression I evaluate when I test. The trouble is that the given code matches (-) to the first line when it should fall to the second.
{-# OPTIONS_GHC -XFlexibleInstances #-}
instance Show (t -> t-> t) where
show (+) = "plus"
show (-) = "minus"
main = print [(+),(-)]
returns
[plus,plus]
Am I just committing a mortal sin printing functions in the first place or is there some way I can get it to match properly?
edit:I realise I am getting the following warning:
Warning: Pattern match(es) are overlapped
In the definition of `show': show - = ...
I still don't know why it overlaps, or how to stop it.
As sepp2k and MtnViewMark said, you can't pattern match on the value of identifiers, only on constructors and, in some cases, implicit equality checks. So, your instance is binding any argument to the identifier, in the process shadowing the external definition of (+). Unfortunately, this means that what you're trying to do won't and can't ever work.
A typical solution to what you want to accomplish is to define an "arithmetic expression" algebraic data type, with an appropriate show instance. Note that you can make your expression type itself an instance of Num, with numeric literals wrapped in a "Literal" constructor, and operations like (+) returning their arguments combined with a constructor for the operation. Here's a quick, incomplete example:
data Expression a = Literal a
| Sum (Expression a) (Expression a)
| Product (Expression a) (Expression a)
deriving (Eq, Ord, Show)
instance (Num a) => Num (Expression a) where
x + y = Sum x y
x * y = Product x y
fromInteger x = Literal (fromInteger x)
evaluate (Literal x) = x
evaluate (Sum x y) = evaluate x + evaluate y
evaluate (Product x y) = evaluate x * evaluate y
integer :: Integer
integer = (1 + 2) * 3 + 4
expr :: Expression Integer
expr = (1 + 2) * 3 + 4
Trying it out in GHCi:
> integer
13
> evaluate expr
13
> expr
Sum (Product (Sum (Literal 1) (Literal 2)) (Literal 3)) (Literal 4)
Here's a way to think about this. Consider:
answer = 42
magic = 3
specialName :: Int -> String
specialName answer = "the answer to the ultimate question"
specialName magic = "the magic number"
specialName x = "just plain ol' " ++ show x
Can you see why this won't work? answer in the pattern match is a variable, distinct from answer at the outer scope. So instead, you'd have to write this like:
answer = 42
magic = 3
specialName :: Int -> String
specialName x | x == answer = "the answer to the ultimate question"
specialName x | x == magic = "the magic number"
specialName x = "just plain ol' " ++ show x
In fact, this is just what is going on when you write constants in a pattern. That is:
digitName :: Bool -> String
digitName 0 = "zero"
digitName 1 = "one"
digitName _ = "math is hard"
gets converted by the compiler to something equivalent to:
digitName :: Bool -> String
digitName x | x == 0 = "zero"
digitName x | x == 1 = "one"
digitName _ = "math is hard"
Since you want to match against the function bound to (+) rather than just bind anything to the symbol (+), you'd need to write your code as:
instance Show (t -> t-> t) where
show f | f == (+) = "plus"
show f | f == (-) = "minus"
But, this would require that functions were comparable for equality. And that is an undecidable problem in general.
You might counter that you are just asking the run-time system to compare function pointers, but at the language level, the Haskell programmer doesn't have access to pointers. In other words, you can't manipulate references to values in Haskell(*), only values themselves. This is the purity of Haskell, and gains referential transparency.
(*) MVars and other such objects in the IO monad are another matter, but their existence doesn't invalidate the point.
It overlaps because it treats (+) simply as a variable, meaning on the RHS the identifier + will be bound to the function you called show on.
There is no way to pattern match on functions the way you want.
Solved it myself with a mega hack.
instance (Num t) => Show (t -> t-> t) where
show op =
case (op 6 2) of
8 -> "plus"
4 -> "minus"
12 -> "times"
3 -> "divided"
Here is my first Haskell program. What parts would you write in a better way?
-- Multiplication table
-- Returns n*n multiplication table in base b
import Text.Printf
import Data.List
import Data.Char
-- Returns n*n multiplication table in base b
mulTable :: Int -> Int -> String
mulTable n b = foldl (++) (verticalHeader n b w) (map (line n b w) [0..n])
where
lo = 2* (logBase (fromIntegral b) (fromIntegral n))
w = 1+fromInteger (floor lo)
verticalHeader :: Int -> Int -> Int -> String
verticalHeader n b w = (foldl (++) tableHeader columnHeaders)
++ "\n"
++ minusSignLine
++ "\n"
where
tableHeader = replicate (w+2) ' '
columnHeaders = map (horizontalHeader b w) [0..n]
minusSignLine = concat ( replicate ((w+1)* (n+2)) "-" )
horizontalHeader :: Int -> Int -> Int -> String
horizontalHeader b w i = format i b w
line :: Int -> Int -> Int -> Int -> String
line n b w y = (foldl (++) ((format y b w) ++ "|" )
(map (element b w y) [0..n])) ++ "\n"
element :: Int -> Int -> Int -> Int -> String
element b w y x = format (y * x) b w
toBase :: Int -> Int -> [Int]
toBase b v = toBase' [] v where
toBase' a 0 = a
toBase' a v = toBase' (r:a) q where (q,r) = v `divMod` b
toAlphaDigits :: [Int] -> String
toAlphaDigits = map convert where
convert n | n < 10 = chr (n + ord '0')
| otherwise = chr (n + ord 'a' - 10)
format :: Int -> Int -> Int -> String
format v b w = concat spaces ++ digits ++ " "
where
digits = if v == 0
then "0"
else toAlphaDigits ( toBase b v )
l = length digits
spaceCount = if (l > w) then 0 else (w-l)
spaces = replicate spaceCount " "
Here are some suggestions:
To make the tabularity of the computation more obvious, I would pass the list [0..n] to the line function rather than passing n.
I would further split out the computation of the horizontal and vertical axes so that they are passed as arguments to mulTable rather than computed there.
Haskell is higher-order, and almost none of the computation has to do with multiplication. So I would change the name of mulTable to binopTable and pass the actual multiplication in as a parameter.
Finally, the formatting of individual numbers is repetitious. Why not pass \x -> format x b w as a parameter, eliminating the need for b and w?
The net effect of the changes I am suggesting is that you build a general higher-order function for creating tables for binary operators. Its type becomes something like
binopTable :: (i -> String) -> (i -> i -> i) -> [i] -> [i] -> String
and you wind up with a much more reusable function—for example, Boolean truth tables should be a piece of cake.
Higher-order and reusable is the Haskell Way.
You don't use anything from import Text.Printf.
Stylistically, you use more parentheses than necessary. Haskellers tend to find code more readable when it's cleaned of extraneous stuff like that. Instead of something like h x = f (g x), write h = f . g.
Nothing here really requires Int; (Integral a) => a ought to do.
foldl (++) x xs == concat $ x : xs: I trust the built-in concat to work better than your implementation.
Also, you should prefer foldr when the function is lazy in its second argument, as (++) is – because Haskell is lazy, this reduces stack space (and also works on infinite lists).
Also, unwords and unlines are shortcuts for intercalate " " and concat . map (++ "\n") respectively, i.e. "join with spaces" and "join with newlines (plus trailing newline)"; you can replace a couple things by those.
Unless you use big numbers, w = length $ takeWhile (<= n) $ iterate (* b) 1 is probably faster. Or, in the case of a lazy programmer, let w = length $ toBase b n.
concat ( (replicate ((w+1)* (n+2)) "-" ) == replicate ((w+1) * (n+2)) '-' – not sure how you missed this one, you got it right just a couple lines up.
You do the same thing with concat spaces, too. However, wouldn't it be easier to actually use the Text.Printf import and write printf "%*s " w digits?
Norman Ramsey gave excellent high-level (design) suggestions; Below are some low-level ones:
First, consult with HLint. HLint is a friendly program that gives you rudimentary advice on how to improve your Haskell code!
In your case HLint gives 7 suggestions. (mostly about redundant brackets)
Modify your code according to HLint's suggestions until it likes what you feed it.
More HLint-like stuff:
concat (replicate i "-"). Why not replicate i '-'?
Consult with Hoogle whenever there is reason to believe that a function you need is already available in Haskell's libraries. Haskell comes with tons of useful functions so Hoogle should come in handy quite often.
Need to concatenate strings? Search for [String] -> String, and voila you found concat. Now go replace all those folds.
The previous search also suggested unlines. Actually, this even better suits your needs. It's magic!
Optional: pause and thank in your heart to Neil M for making Hoogle and HLint, and thank others for making other good stuff like Haskell, bridges, tennis balls, and sanitation.
Now, for every function that takes several arguments of the same type, make it clear which means what, by giving them descriptive names. This is better than comments, but you can still use both.
So
-- Returns n*n multiplication table in base b
mulTable :: Int -> Int -> String
mulTable n b =
becomes
mulTable :: Int -> Int -> String
mulTable size base =
To soften the extra characters blow of the previous suggestion: When a function is only used once, and is not very useful by itself, put it inside its caller's scope in its where clause, where it could use the callers' variables, saving you the need to pass everything to it.
So
line :: Int -> Int -> Int -> Int -> String
line n b w y =
concat
$ format y b w
: "|"
: map (element b w y) [0 .. n]
element :: Int -> Int -> Int -> Int -> String
element b w y x = format (y * x) b w
becomes
line :: Int -> Int -> Int -> Int -> String
line n b w y =
concat
$ format y b w
: "|"
: map element [0 .. n]
where
element x = format (y * x) b w
You can even move line into mulTable's where clause; imho, you should.
If you find a where clause nested inside another where clause troubling, then I suggest to change your indentation habits. My recommendation is to use consistent indentation of always 2 or always 4 spaces. Then you can easily see, everywhere, where the where in the other where is at. ok
Below's what it looks like (with a few other changes in style):
import Data.List
import Data.Char
mulTable :: Int -> Int -> String
mulTable size base =
unlines $
[ vertHeaders
, minusSignsLine
] ++ map line [0 .. size]
where
vertHeaders =
concat
$ replicate (cellWidth + 2) ' '
: map horizontalHeader [0 .. size]
horizontalHeader i = format i base cellWidth
minusSignsLine = replicate ((cellWidth + 1) * (size + 2)) '-'
cellWidth = length $ toBase base (size * size)
line y =
concat
$ format y base cellWidth
: "|"
: map element [0 .. size]
where
element x = format (y * x) base cellWidth
toBase :: Integral i => i -> i -> [i]
toBase base
= reverse
. map (`mod` base)
. takeWhile (> 0)
. iterate (`div` base)
toAlphaDigit :: Int -> Char
toAlphaDigit n
| n < 10 = chr (n + ord '0')
| otherwise = chr (n + ord 'a' - 10)
format :: Int -> Int -> Int -> String
format v b w =
spaces ++ digits ++ " "
where
digits
| v == 0 = "0"
| otherwise = map toAlphaDigit (toBase b v)
spaces = replicate (w - length digits) ' '
0) add a main function :-) at least rudimentary
import System.Environment (getArgs)
import Control.Monad (liftM)
main :: IO ()
main = do
args <- liftM (map read) $ getArgs
case args of
(n:b:_) -> putStrLn $ mulTable n b
_ -> putStrLn "usage: nntable n base"
1) run ghc or runhaskell with -Wall; run through hlint.
While hlint doesn't suggest anything special here (only some redundant brackets), ghc will tell you that you don't actually need Text.Printf here...
2) try running it with base = 1 or base = 0 or base = -1
If you want multiline comments use:
{- A multiline
comment -}
Also, never use foldl, use foldl' instead, in cases where you are dealing with large lists which must be folded. It is more memory efficient.
A brief comments saying what each function does, its arguments and return value, is always good. I had to read the code pretty carefully to fully make sense of it.
Some would say if you do that, explicit type signatures may not be required. That's an aesthetic question, I don't have a strong opinion on it.
One minor caveat: if you do remove the type signatures, you'll automatically get the polymorphic Integral support ephemient mentioned, but you will still need one around toAlphaDigits because of the infamous "monomorphism restriction."