clojure behavior of (into {} '((:a :b) (:c :d))) - clojure

user=> (into {} '((:a :b) (:c :d)))
Throws: ClassCastException clojure.lang.Keyword cannot be cast to java.util.Map$Entry clojure.lang.ATransientMap.conj (ATransientMap.java:44).
Whereas:
user=> (into {} (list [:a :b] [:c :d]))
Is fine. It's a strange difference, since many times other functions return lists when the thing they had to begin with was a vector:
user=> (into {} (partition 2 (interleave [:a :b] [:c :d])))
Will throw, because it partition 2 ...) results in ((:a :c) (:b :d)). So it's pretty annoying. You basically have to memorize both the return types of methods and the specific behaviors of functions like into, or you have to just let stuff blow up and fix it as you find it with stuff like (into {} (map vec (partition 2 (interleave [:a :b] [:c :d])))).
Is there a specific reason why into doesn't like the pairs as lists?

The reason is as you state, only a vector pairs can be used to build maps. I don't know of a practical reason why this limitation exists. But there are also several other methods for constructing hash-maps. If you find yourself using partition, perhaps the answer is to use an alternate construction method.
If you have parallel sequences of keys and values:
(zipmap [:a :c] [:b :d])
If you have all the items in a flat sequence:
(apply hash-map [:a :b :c :d])
Building a map from a sequence:
(into {} (for [[k v] xs]
[k (transform v)]))

I never realized this wouldn't work! Don't forget:
(apply hash-map (interleave [:a :b] [:c :d]))
;=> {:b :d, :a :c}
since hash-map implicitly creates pairs from the scalar args:
(hash-map :a :c :b :d)
;=> {:b :d, :a :c}
you don't really need the (partition 2...) which is the source of the problem.

Related

dissoc in clojure can't get to work

I have this function:
(defn dissoc-all [m kv]
(let [[k & ks] kv]
(dissoc m k ks)))
Where m is the map and kv is the vector of keys. I use it like this:
(dissoc-all {:a 1 :b 2} [:a :b])
=>{:b 2}
This is not what I've expected. ks has :b but I don't know why it is not being use by dissoc. Anyone can help me with this?
Edit: Added question is that why is this not triggering the 3rd overload of dissoc, which is dissoc [map key & ks]?
Changed name from dissoc-in to dissoc-all as noisesmith have said, -in is not a proper name for this and I agree.
This won't work because ks is a collection of all the elements in kv after the first. So instead of :b it is [:b].
Instead, you can just use apply:
(defn dissoc-in [m vs]
(apply dissoc m vs))
Also, dissoc-in is an odd name for this function, because the standard functions with -in in the name all do nested access, and this does not use the keys to do any nested access of the map.
Why not something like this?
(defn dissoc-all [m ks]
(apply dissoc m ks))
(dissoc-all {:a 1 :b 2} [:a :b])
=> {}
The reason the third overlod of dissoc is not getting called is because it does not expect a collection of keys like [:a :b] - it expects just the keys.
For example:
(dissoc {:a "a" :b "b" :c "c" :d "d"} :a :b :c)
=> {:d "d"}
Further to noisesmith's answer:
You're being confused by the overloads/arities of dissoc, which have this simple effect:
[m & ks]
"Returns a new map of the same (hashed/sorted) type,
that does not contain a mapping for any of ks. "
The explicit arities for no keys and one key are for performance. Many clojure functions are so organised, and the documentation follows the organisation, not the underlying idea.
Now, the action of
(dissoc-all {:a 1 :b 2} [:a :b])
;{:b 2}
is to bind
k to :a
ks to [:b]
Note the latter. The example removes the :a but fails to remove the [:b], which isn't there.
You can use apply to crack open ks:
(defn dissoc-all [m kk]
(let [[k & ks] kk]
(apply dissoc m k ks)))
(dissoc-all {:a 1 :b 2} [:a :b])
;{}
... or, better, do as #noisesmith does and short-circuit the destructuring, using apply at once.

Clojure: Why is flatten "the wrong thing to use"

I've read this kind of thing a couple of times since I've started Clojure.
For instance, here: How to convert map to a sequence?
And in some tweet I don't remember exactly that was more or less saying "if you're using flatten you're probably doing it wrong".
I would like to know, what is wrong with flatten?
I think this is what they were talking about in the answer you linked:
so> ((comp flatten seq) {:a [1 2] :b [3 4]})
(:b 3 4 :a 1 2)
so> (apply concat {:a [1 2] :b [3 4]})
(:b [3 4] :a [1 2])
Flatten will remove the structure from the keys and values, which is probably not what you want. There are use cases where you do want to remove the structure of nested sequences, and flatten was written for such cases. But for destructuring a map, you usually do want to keep the internal sequences as is.
Anything flatten can't flatten, it ought to return intact. At the top level, it doesn't.
(flatten 8)
()
(flatten {1 2, 3 4})
()
If you think you've supplied a sequence, but you haven't, you'll get the effect of supplying an empty sequence. This is the sort of leg-breaker that most core functions take care to preclude. For example, (str nil) => "".
flatten ought to work like this:
(defn flatten [x]
(if (sequential? x)
((fn flat [y] (if (sequential? y) (mapcat flat y) [y])) x)
x))
(flatten 8)
;8
(flatten [{1 2, 3 4}])
;({1 2, 3 4})
(flatten [1 [2 [[3]] 4]])
;(1 2 3 4)
You can find Steve Miner's faster lazy version of this here.
Probability of "probably"
Listen to people who say "you're probably doing it wrong", but also do not forget they say "probably", because it all depends on the problem.
For example if your task is to flatten the map where you could care less what was the key what was the value, you just need an unstructured sequence of all, then by all means, use flatten (or apply concat).
The reason it causes a "suspicion" is the fact that you had / were given a map to begin with, hence whoever gave it to you meant a "key value" paired structure, and if you flatten it, you lose that intention, as well as flexibility and clarity.
Keep in mind
In case you are still not sure what to do with a map for you particular problem, have a for comprehension in mind, since you would have a full control on what to do with the map as you iterate of it:
create a vector?
;; can also be (apply vector {:a 34 :b 42}), but just to use "for" for all consistently
user=> (into [] (for [[k v] {:a 34 :b 42}] [k v]))
[[:a 34] [:b 42]]
create another map?
user=> (into {} (for [[k v] {:a 34 :b 42}] [k (inc v)]))
{:a 35, :b 43}
create a set?
user=> (into #{} (for [[k v] {:a 34 :b 42}] [k v]))
#{[:a 34] [:b 42]}
reverse keys and values?
user=> (into {} (for [[k v] {:a 34 :b 42}] [v k]))
{34 :a, 42 :b}

Testing vectors and nested vectors in Clojure

Is there a way in Clojure to test a vector and see if it's nested, i.e. a way to test [:a :b :c :d] vs. [[:a :b] [:c :d]]?
I've tried the test
(vector? [:a :b :c :d])
true
but it remains true for nested vectors as well,
(vector? [[:a :b] [:c :d]])
true
checking if any of them are sequential seems close:
user> (every? #(not (sequential? %)) [:a :b :c :d])
true
user> (every? #(not (sequential? %)) [:a :b :c :d [:e]])
false
because all the base collections can be made into sequences, though it may be necessary to also check for Java arrays:
(every? #(not (sequential? %)) [:a :b :c :d (into-array [1 2 3])])
vector? returns true if its argument is a vector (implements IPersistentVector). [:a :b :c :d] is a vector. So is [[:a :b] [:c :d]]. Therefore, calling vector? on either of them will return true.
Now, we can say a vector is nested if any of its elements is a vector. We can test for this using some and the vector? predicate:
(defn nested-vector? [v]
(some vector? v))
This will test specifically for vectors. However, you might want to take a more general approach that applies to any Sequential data structure:
(defn nested? [coll]
(some sequential? coll))

Update-in nested map

I'm new to clojure and I've been staring at this for some time, I'm sure there's something basic I just don't see. I want to conj two sets, but they're nested, example:
(def foo {:b #{:test}})
(def bar {:a {:b #{:ab}} :c :d})
I tried:
=>(update-in bar [:a :b] conj (:b foo) )
{:a {:b #{#{:test} :ab}}, :c :d}
I guess that makes sense, but what I wanted was {:a {:b #{:test :ab}}, :c :d}
I just can't seem how to get either #{:test} out of the set to conj it, or to properly access :b as a set given the update-in syntax.
Any help is enormously appreciated.
You need to use into instead of conj:
(update-in bar [:a :b] into (:b foo))
;= {:a {:b #{:test :ab}}, :c :d}

Clojure: How to pass two sets of unbounded parameters?

Contrived example to illustrate:
(def nest1 {:a {:b {:c "foo"}}})
(def nest2 {:d {:e "bar"}})
If I wanted to conj these nests at arbitrary levels, I could explicitly do this:
(conj (-> nest1 :a :b) (-> nest2 :d)) ; yields {:e "bar", :c "foo"}
(conj (-> nest1 :a) (-> nest2 :d)) ; yields {:e "bar", :b {:c "foo"}}
But what if I wanted to create a function that would accept the "depth" of nest1 and nest2 as parameters?
; Does not work, but shows what I am trying to do
(defn join-nests-by-paths [nest1-path nest2-path]
(conj (-> nest1 nest1-path) (-> nest2 nest2-path))
And I might try to call it like this:
; Does not work
(join-nests-by-paths '(:a :b) '(:d))
This doesn't work. I can't simply pass each "path" as a list to the function (or maybe I can, but need to work with it differently in the function).
Any thoughts? TIA...
Sean
Use get-in:
(defn join-by-paths [path1 path2]
(conj (get-in nest1 path1) (get-in nest2 path2)))
user> (join-by-paths [:a :b] [:d])
{:e "bar", :c "foo"}
user> (join-by-paths [:a] [:d])
{:e "bar", :b {:c "foo"}}
Your version is actually doing something like this:
user> (macroexpand '(-> nest1 (:a :b)))
(:a nest1 :b)
which doesn't work, as you said.
get-in has friends assoc-in and update-in, all for working with nested maps of maps. There's a dissoc-in somewhere in clojure.conrtrib.
(In Clojure it's more idiomatic to use vectors instead of quoted lists when you're passing around sequential groups of things.)