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authorGravatar Matej Kosik <m4tej.kosik@gmail.com>2016-08-30 11:47:35 +0200
committerGravatar Matej Kosik <m4tej.kosik@gmail.com>2016-08-30 11:47:35 +0200
commit4f21c45748816c9e0cd4f93fa6f6d167e9757f81 (patch)
treef22bde63a6522883782ada4c40fa6b5c1ff1cc4c /lib/util.mli
parent2ff6d31c7a6011b26dfa7f0b2bb593b356833058 (diff)
CLEANUP: switching from "right-to-left" to "left-to-right" function composition operator.
Short story: This pull-request: (1) removes the definition of the "right-to-left" function composition operator (2) adds the definition of the "left-to-right" function composition operator (3) rewrites the code relying on "right-to-left" function composition to rely on "left-to-right" function composition operator instead. Long story: In mathematics, function composition is traditionally denoted with ∘ operator. Ocaml standard library does not provide analogous operator under any name. Batteries Included provides provides two alternatives: _ % _ and _ %> _ The first operator one corresponds to the classical ∘ operator routinely used in mathematics. I.e.: (f4 % f3 % f2 % f1) x ≜ (f4 ∘ f3 ∘ f2 ∘ f1) x We can call it "right-to-left" composition because: - the function we write as first (f4) will be called as last - and the function write as last (f1) will be called as first. The meaning of the second operator is this: (f1 %> f2 %> f3 %> f4) x ≜ (f4 ∘ f3 ∘ f2 ∘ f1) x We can call it "left-to-right" composition because: - the function we write as first (f1) will be called first - and the function we write as last (f4) will be called last That is, the functions are written in the same order in which we write and read them. I think that it makes sense to prefer the "left-to-right" variant because it enables us to write functions in the same order in which they will be actually called and it thus better fits our culture (we read/write from left to right).
Diffstat (limited to 'lib/util.mli')
-rw-r--r--lib/util.mli12
1 files changed, 8 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/lib/util.mli b/lib/util.mli
index 6bed7e355..cf8041a0d 100644
--- a/lib/util.mli
+++ b/lib/util.mli
@@ -84,13 +84,17 @@ val matrix_transpose : 'a list list -> 'a list list
val identity : 'a -> 'a
-(** Function composition: the mathematical [∘] operator.
+(** Left-to-right function composition:
+
+ [f1 %> f2] is [fun x -> f2 (f1 x)].
- So [g % f] is a synonym for [fun x -> g (f x)].
+ [f1 %> f2 %> f3] is [fun x -> f3 (f2 (f1 x))].
- Also because [%] is right-associative, [h % g % f] means [fun x -> h (g (f x))].
+ [f1 %> f2 %> f3 %> f4] is [fun x -> f4 (f3 (f2 (f1 x)))]
+
+ etc.
*)
-val (%) : ('a -> 'b) -> ('c -> 'a) -> 'c -> 'b
+val ( %> ) : ('a -> 'b) -> ('b -> 'c) -> 'a -> 'c
val const : 'a -> 'b -> 'a
val iterate : ('a -> 'a) -> int -> 'a -> 'a