forcing a list to be recomputed - list

The function search below searches for two inputs which have the same output under some function. During the search it iterates over the input list xs twice, and this input list could be very large, e.g. [0..1000000000]. I'd rather use memory for storing the HashSet created by collision rather than storing the elements of xs, and my understanding is that even though xs could be lazily computed it would be kept around in case it was needed for the call to find.
Questions:
is this understanding correct?
if I keep it as a list is there a way I can have xs recomputed if it is passed to find?
is there an alternative data structure I can use for xs which allows me to control the space used? xs is just used to specify which inputs to check.
Note that there are no type restrictions on xs - it can be a collection of any type.
import Data.HashSet as Set
import Data.Hashable
import Data.List
search :: (Hashable b, Eq b) => (a->b) -> [a] -> Maybe (a,a)
search h xs =
do x0 <- collision h xs
let h0 = h x0
x1 <- find (\x -> (h x) == h0) xs
return (x0,x1)
collision :: (Hashable b, Eq b) => (a->b) -> [a] -> Maybe a
collision h xs = go Set.empty xs
where
go s [] = Nothing
go s (x:xs) =
if y `Set.member` s
then Just x
else go (Set.insert y s) xs
where y = h x
main = print $ search (\x -> x `mod` 21) ([10,20..2100] :: [Int])

I answered basically this question here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/6209279/371753
Here's the relevant code.
import Data.Stream.Branching(Stream(..))
import qualified Data.Stream.Branching as S
import Control.Arrow
import Control.Applicative
import Data.List
data UM s a = UM (s -> Maybe a) deriving Functor
type UStream s a = Stream (UM s) a
runUM s (UM f) = f s
liftUM x = UM $ const (Just x)
nullUM = UM $ const Nothing
buildUStream :: Int -> Int -> Stream (UM ()) Int
buildUStream start end = S.unfold (\x -> (x, go x)) start
where go x
| x < end = liftUM (x + 1)
| otherwise = nullUM
usToList x = unfoldr (\um -> (S.head &&& S.tail) <$> runUM () um) x
Long story short, instead of passing around a list, pass around a data type that describes how to generate a list. Now you can write functions directly over the stream, or you can use the usToList function to use the list functions you already have.

Related

How to enhance small Haskell Code Snippet

just recently I started to try out haskell.
It's fun trying out different exercises, but sometimes I get the feeling, that my found solutions are far from elegant: The following Code Snipplet will find the longest sub-sequence in a list, which will satisfy a given condition (for example uppercase letters etc.)
Could you help a noob to make everything shorter and more elegant - every advice is highly appreciated.
import Data.Char
longer :: [a] -> [a] -> [a]
longer x y = if length x > length y
then x
else y
longest :: [[a]]->[a]
longest = foldl longer []
nextSequence :: (a->Bool) -> [a] ->([a],[a])
nextSequence f x = span f (dropWhile (not . f) x)
longestSubsequence :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]
longestSubsequence _ x | null x = []
longestSubsequence f x =
longest $ (\y -> [fst y , longestSubsequence f $ snd y]) (nextSequence f x)
testSequence :: String
testSequence = longestSubsequence Data.Char.isUpper
"hkerhklehrERJKJKJERKJejkrjekERHkhkerHERKLJHERJKHKJHERdjfkj"
At first, you can define your longest like this:
import Data.Function
import Data.List
longest :: [[a]] -> [a]
longest = maximumBy (compare `on` length)
And to get all subsequences that satisfy a given condition you can write a function like this:
import Data.List
getSatisfyingSubseqs :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [[a]]
getSatisfyingSubseqs f = filter (f . head) . groupBy same
where same x y = f x == f y
Here we group elements where the condition yields the same result and filter only subsequences that satisfy the condition.
In the total:
longestSubsequence :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]
longestSubsequence f = longest . getSatisfyingSubseqs f
UPDATE: And if you want to make it shorter, you can just throw out the auxiliary functions and write the whole at a time:
longestSubsequence :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]
longestSubsequence f = maximumBy (compare `on` length) . filter (f . head) . groupBy same
where same x y = f x == f y
(Don't forget the imports)
You can run it there: https://repl.it/#Yuri12358/so-longestsequence
The span :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> ([a], [a]) function could be very handy here. Also note that f <$> (a,b) = (a,f b). Probably not very efficient due to the length checks but it should do the job.
lss :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]
lss f [] = []
lss f ls#(x:xs) = if f x then longer (lss f <$> span f ls)
else lss f xs
where
longer ::([a],[a]) -> [a]
longer (xs,ys) = if length xs >= length ys then xs else ys
Your longer function uses length, which means it doesn't work if either input is infinite. However, it can be improved to work when at most one is infinite:
longer l1 l2 = go l1 l2
where
go [] _ = l2
go _ [] = l1
go (_:xs) (_:ys) = go xs ys
This is also a performance optimization. Before, if you had a 10-element list and a 10-million-element list, it would walk through all 10 million elements of the 10-million-element list before returning it. Here, it will return it as soon as it gets to the 11th element instead.

Implementing Haskell's `take` function using `foldl`

Implementing Haskell's take and drop functions using foldl.
Any suggestions on how to implement take and drop functions using foldl ??
take x ls = foldl ???
drop x ls = foldl ???
i've tried these but it's showing errors:
myFunc :: Int -> [a] -> [a]
myFunc n list = foldl func [] list
where
func x y | (length y) > n = x : y
| otherwise = y
ERROR PRODUCED :
*** Expression : foldl func [] list
*** Term : func
*** Type : a -> [a] -> [a]
*** Does not match : [a] -> [a] -> [a]
*** Because : unification would give infinite type
Can't be done.
Left fold necessarily diverges on infinite lists, but take n does not. This is so because left fold is tail recursive, so it must scan through the whole input list before it can start the processing.
With the right fold, it's
ntake :: Int -> [a] -> [a]
ntake 0 _ = []
ntake n xs = foldr g z xs 0
where
g x r i | i>=n = []
| otherwise = x : r (i+1)
z _ = []
ndrop :: Int -> [a] -> [a]
ndrop 0 xs = xs
ndrop n xs = foldr g z xs 0 xs
where
g x r i xs#(_:t) | i>=n = xs
| otherwise = r (i+1) t
z _ _ = []
ndrop implements a paramorphism nicely and faithfully, up to the order of arguments to the reducer function g, giving it access to both the current element x and the current list node xs (such that xs == (x:t)) as well as the recursive result r. A catamorphism's reducer has access only to x and r.
Folds usually encode catamorphisms, but this shows that right fold can be used to code up a paramorphism just as well. It's universal that way. I think it is beautiful.
As for the type error, to fix it just switch the arguments to your func:
func y x | ..... = .......
The accumulator in the left fold comes as the first argument to the reducer function.
If you really want it done with the left fold, and if you're really sure the lists are finite, two options:
ltake n xs = post $ foldl' g (0,id) xs
where
g (i,f) x | i < n = (i+1, f . (x:))
| otherwise = (i,f)
post (_,f) = f []
rltake n xs = foldl' g id xs r n
where
g acc x = acc . f x
f x r i | i > 0 = x : r (i-1)
| otherwise = []
r _ = []
The first counts from the left straight up, potentially stopping assembling the prefix in the middle of the full list traversal that it does carry to the end nevertheless, being a left fold.
The second also traverses the list in full turning it into a right fold which then gets to work counting down from the left again, being able to actually stop working as soon as the prefix is assembled.
Implementing drop this way is bound to be (?) even clunkier. Could be a nice exercise.
I note that you never specified the fold had to be over the supplied list. So, one approach that meets the letter of your question, though probably not the spirit, is:
sillytake :: Int -> [a] -> [a]
sillytake n xs = foldl go (const []) [1..n] xs
where go f _ (x:xs) = x : f xs
go _ _ [] = []
sillydrop :: Int -> [a] -> [a]
sillydrop n xs = foldl go id [1..n] xs
where go f _ (_:xs) = f xs
go _ _ [] = []
These each use left folds, but over the list of numbers [1..n] -- the numbers themselves are ignored, and the list is just used for its length to build a custom take n or drop n function for the given n. This function is then applied to the original supplied list xs.
These versions work fine on infinite lists:
> sillytake 5 $ sillydrop 5 $ [1..]
[6,7,8,9,10]
Will Ness showed a nice way to implement take with foldr. The least repulsive way to implement drop with foldr is this:
drop n0 xs0 = foldr go stop xs0 n0
where
stop _ = []
go x r n
| n <= 0 = x : r 0
| otherwise = r (n - 1)
Take the efficiency loss and rebuild the whole list if you have no choice! Better to drive a nail in with a screwdriver than drive a screw in with a hammer.
Both ways are horrible. But this one helps you understand how folds can be used to structure functions and what their limits are.
Folds just aren't the right tools for implementing drop; a paramorphism is the right tool.
You are not too far. Here are a pair of fixes.
First, note that func is passed the accumulator first (i.e. a list of a, in your case) and then the list element (an a). So, you need to swap the order of the arguments of func.
Then, if we want to mimic take, we need to add x when the length y is less than n, not greater!
So we get
myFunc :: Int -> [a] -> [a]
myFunc n list = foldl func [] list
where
func y x | (length y) < n = x : y
| otherwise = y
Test:
> myFunc 5 [1..10]
[5,4,3,2,1]
As you can see, this is reversing the string. This is because we add x at the front (x:y) instead of at the back (y++[x]). Or, alternatively, one could use reverse (foldl ....) to fix the order at the end.
Also, since foldl always scans the whole input list, myFunc 3 [1..1000000000] will take a lot of time, and myFunc 3 [1..] will fail to terminate. Using foldr would be much better.
drop is more tricky to do. I don't think you can easily do that without some post-processing like myFunc n xs = fst (foldl ...) or making foldl return a function which you immediately call (which is also a kind of post-processing).

Get index of next smallest element in the list in Haskell

I m a newbie to Haskell. I am pretty good with Imperative languages but not with functional. Haskell is my first as a functional language.
I am trying to figure out, how to get the index of the smallest element in the list where the minimum element is defined by me.
Let me explain by examples.
For example :
Function signature
minList :: x -> [x]
let x = 2
let list = [2,3,5,4,6,5,2,1,7,9,2]
minList x list --output 1 <- is index
This should return 1. Because the at list[1] is 3. It returns 1 because 3 is the smallest element after x (=2).
let x = 1
let list = [3,5,4,6,5,2,1,7,9,2]
minList x list -- output 9 <- is index
It should return 9 because at list[9] is 2 and 2 is the smallest element after 1. x = 1 which is defined by me.
What I have tried so far.
minListIndex :: (Ord a, Num a) => a -> [a] -> a
minListIndex x [] = 0
minListIndex x (y:ys)
| x > y = length ys
| otherwise = m
where m = minListIndex x ys
When I load the file I get this error
• Couldn't match expected type ‘a’ with actual type ‘Int’
‘a’ is a rigid type variable bound by
the type signature for:
minListIndex :: forall a. (Ord a, Num a) => a -> [a] -> a
at myFile.hs:36:17
• In the expression: 1 + length ys
In an equation for ‘minListIndex’:
minListIndex x (y : ys)
| x > y = 1 + length ys
| otherwise = 1 + m
where
m = minListIndex x ys
• Relevant bindings include
m :: a (bound at myFile.hs:41:19)
ys :: [a] (bound at myFile.hs:38:19)
y :: a (bound at myFile.hs:38:17)
x :: a (bound at myFile.hs:38:14)
minListIndex :: a -> [a] -> a (bound at myFile.hs:37:1)
When I modify the function like this
minListIndex :: (Ord a, Num a) => a -> [a] -> a
minListIndex x [] = 0
minListIndex x (y:ys)
| x > y = 2 -- <- modified...
| otherwise = 3 -- <- modifiedd
where m = minListIndex x ys
I load the file again then it compiles and runs but ofc the output is not desired.
What is the problem with
| x > y = length ys
| otherwise = m
?
In short: Basically, I want to find the index of the smallest element but higher than the x which is defined by me in parameter/function signature.
Thanks for the help in advance!
minListIndex :: (Ord a, Num a) => a -> [a] -> a
The problem is that you are trying to return result of generic type a but it is actually index in a list.
Suppose you are trying to evaluate your function for a list of doubles. In this case compiler should instantiate function's type to Double -> [Double] -> Double which is nonsense.
Actually compiler notices that you are returning something that is derived from list's length and warns you that it is not possible to match generic type a with concrete Int.
length ys returns Int, so you can try this instead:
minListIndex :: Ord a => a -> [a] -> Int
Regarding your original problem, seems that you can't solve it with plain recursion. Consider defining helper recursive function with accumulator. In your case it can be a pair (min_value_so_far, its_index).
First off, I'd separate the index type from the list element type altogether. There's no apparent reason for them to be the same. I will use the BangPatterns extension to avoid a space leak without too much notation; enable that by adding {-# language BangPatterns #-} to the very top of the file. I will also import Data.Word to get access to the Word64 type.
There are two stages: first, find the index of the given element (if it's present) and the rest of the list beyond that point. Then, find the index of the minimum of the tail.
-- Find the 0-based index of the first occurrence
-- of the given element in the list, and
-- the rest of the list after that element.
findGiven :: Eq a => a -> [a] -> Maybe (Word64, [a])
findGiven given = go 0 where
go !_k [] = Nothing --not found
go !k (x:xs)
| given == xs = Just (k, xs)
| otherwise = go (k+1) xs
-- Find the minimum (and its index) of the elements of the
-- list greater than the given one.
findMinWithIndexOver :: Ord a => a -> [a] -> Maybe (Word64, a)
findMinWithIndexOver given = go 0 Nothing where
go !_k acc [] = acc
go !k acc (x : xs)
| x <= given = go (k + 1) acc xs
| otherwise
= case acc of
Nothing -> go (k + 1) (Just (k, x)) xs
Just (ix_min, curr_min)
| x < ix_min = go (k + 1) (Just (k, x)) xs
| otherwise = go (k + 1) acc xs
You can now put these functions together to construct the one you seek. If you want a general Num result rather than a Word64 one, you can use fromIntegral at the very end. Why use Word64? Unlike Int or Word, it's (practically) guaranteed not to overflow in any reasonable amount of time. It's likely substantially faster than using something like Integer or Natural directly.
It is not clear for me what do you want exactly. Based on examples I guess it is: find the index of the smallest element higher than x which appears after x. In that case, This solution is plain Prelude. No imports
minList :: Ord a => a -> [a] -> Int
minList x l = snd . minimum . filter (\a -> x < fst a) . dropWhile (\a -> x /= fst a) $ zip l [0..]
The logic is:
create the list of pairs, [(elem, index)] using zip l [0..]
drop elements until you find the input x using dropWhile (\a -> x /= fst a)
discards elements less than x using filter (\a -> x < fst a)
find the minimum of the resulting list. Tuples are ordered using lexicographic order so it fits your problem
take the index using snd
Your function can be constructed out of ready-made parts as
import Data.Maybe (listToMaybe)
import Data.List (sortBy)
import Data.Ord (comparing)
foo :: (Ord a, Enum b) => a -> [a] -> Maybe b
foo x = fmap fst . listToMaybe . take 1
. dropWhile ((<= x) . snd)
. sortBy (comparing snd)
. dropWhile ((/= x) . snd)
. zip [toEnum 0..]
This Maybe finds the index of the next smallest element in the list above the given element, situated after the given element, in the input list. As you've requested.
You can use any Enum type of your choosing as the index.
Now you can implement this higher-level executable specs as direct recursion, using an efficient Map data structure to hold your sorted elements above x seen so far to find the next smallest, etc.
Correctness first, efficiency later!
Efficiency update: dropping after the sort drops them sorted, so there's a wasted effort there; indeed it should be replaced with the filtering (as seen in the answer by Luis Morillo) before the sort. And if our element type is in Integral (so it is a properly discrete type, unlike just an Enum, thanks to #dfeuer for pointing this out!), there's one more opportunity for an opportunistic optimization: if we hit on a succ minimal element by pure chance, there's no further chance of improvement, and so we should bail out at that point right there:
bar :: (Integral a, Enum b) => a -> [a] -> Maybe b
bar x = fmap fst . either Just (listToMaybe . take 1
. sortBy (comparing snd))
. findOrFilter ((== succ x).snd) ((> x).snd)
. dropWhile ((/= x) . snd)
. zip [toEnum 0..]
findOrFilter :: (a -> Bool) -> (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> Either a [a]
findOrFilter t p = go
where go [] = Right []
go (x:xs) | t x = Left x
| otherwise = fmap ([x | p x] ++) $ go xs
Testing:
> foo 5 [2,3,5,4,6,5,2,1,7,9,2] :: Maybe Int
Just 4
> foo 2 [2,3,5,4,6,5,2,1,7,9,2] :: Maybe Int
Just 1
> foo 1 [3,5,4,6,5,2,1,7,9,2] :: Maybe Int
Just 9

Zip with default value instead of dropping values?

I'm looking for a function in haskell to zip two lists that may vary in length.
All zip functions I could find just drop all values of a lists that is longer than the other.
For example:
In my exercise I have two example lists.
If the first one is shorter than the second one I have to fill up using 0's. Otherwise I have to use 1's.
I'm not allowed to use any recursion. I just have to use higher order functions.
Is there any function I can use?
I really could not find any solution so far.
There is some structure to this problem, and here it comes. I'll be using this stuff:
import Control.Applicative
import Data.Traversable
import Data.List
First up, lists-with-padding are a useful concept, so let's have a type for them.
data Padme m = (:-) {padded :: [m], padder :: m} deriving (Show, Eq)
Next, I remember that the truncating-zip operation gives rise to an Applicative instance, in the library as newtype ZipList (a popular example of a non-Monad). The Applicative ZipList amounts to a decoration of the monoid given by infinity and minimum. Padme has a similar structure, except that its underlying monoid is positive numbers (with infinity), using one and maximum.
instance Applicative Padme where
pure = ([] :-)
(fs :- f) <*> (ss :- s) = zapp fs ss :- f s where
zapp [] ss = map f ss
zapp fs [] = map ($ s) fs
zapp (f : fs) (s : ss) = f s : zapp fs ss
I am obliged to utter the usual incantation to generate a default Functor instance.
instance Functor Padme where fmap = (<*>) . pure
Thus equipped, we can pad away! For example, the function which takes a ragged list of strings and pads them with spaces becomes a one liner.
deggar :: [String] -> [String]
deggar = transpose . padded . traverse (:- ' ')
See?
*Padme> deggar ["om", "mane", "padme", "hum"]
["om ","mane ","padme","hum "]
This can be expressed using These ("represents values with two non-exclusive possibilities") and Align ("functors supporting a zip operation that takes the union of non-uniform shapes") from the these library:
import Data.Align
import Data.These
zipWithDefault :: Align f => a -> b -> f a -> f b -> f (a, b)
zipWithDefault da db = alignWith (fromThese da db)
salign and the other specialised aligns in Data.Align are also worth having a look at.
Thanks to u/WarDaft, u/gallais and u/sjakobi over at r/haskell for pointing out this answer should exist here.
You can append an inifinte list of 0 or 1 to each list and then take the number you need from the result zipped list:
zipWithDefault :: a -> b -> [a] -> [b] -> [(a,b)]
zipWithDefault da db la lb = let len = max (length la) (length lb)
la' = la ++ (repeat da)
lb' = lb ++ (repeat db)
in take len $ zip la' lb'
This should do the trick:
import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
myZip dx dy xl yl =
map (\(x,y) -> (fromMaybe dx x, fromMaybe dy y)) $
takeWhile (/= (Nothing, Nothing)) $
zip ((map Just xl) ++ (repeat Nothing)) ((map Just yl) ++ (repeat Nothing))
main = print $ myZip 0 1 [1..10] [42,43,44]
Basically, append an infinite list of Nothing to the end of both lists, then zip them, and drop the results when both are Nothing. Then replace the Nothings with the appropriate default value, dropping the no longer needed Justs while you're at it.
No length, no counting, no hand-crafted recursions, no cooperating folds. transpose does the trick:
zipLongest :: a -> b -> [a] -> [b] -> [(a,b)]
zipLongest x y xs ys = map head . transpose $ -- longest length;
[ -- view from above:
zip xs
(ys ++ repeat y) -- with length of xs
, zip (xs ++ repeat x)
ys -- with length of ys
]
The result of transpose is as long a list as the longest one in its input list of lists. map head takes the first element in each "column", which is the pair we need, whichever the longest list was.
(update:) For an arbitrary number of lists, efficient padding to the maximal length -- aiming to avoid the potentially quadratic behaviour of other sequentially-combining approaches -- can follow the same idea:
padAll :: a -> [[a]] -> [[a]]
padAll x xss = transpose $
zipWith const
(transpose [xs ++ repeat x | xs <- xss]) -- pad all, and cut
(takeWhile id . map or . transpose $ -- to the longest list
[ (True <$ xs) ++ repeat False | xs <- xss])
> mapM_ print $ padAll '-' ["ommmmmmm", "ommmmmm", "ommmmm", "ommmm", "ommm",
"omm", "om", "o"]
"ommmmmmm"
"ommmmmm-"
"ommmmm--"
"ommmm---"
"ommm----"
"omm-----"
"om------"
"o-------"
You don't have to compare list lengths. Try to think about your zip function as a function taking only one argument xs and returning a function which will take ys and perform the required zip. Then, try to write a recursive function which recurses on xs only, as follows.
type Result = [Int] -> [(Int,Int)]
myZip :: [Int] -> Result
myZip [] = map (\y -> (0,y)) -- :: Result
myZip (x:xs) = f x (myZip xs) -- :: Result
where f x k = ??? -- :: Result
Once you have found f, notice that you can turn the recursion above into a fold!
As you said yourself, the standard zip :: [a] -> [b] -> [(a, b)] drops elements from the longer list. To amend for this fact you can modify your input before giving it to zip. First you will have to find out which list is the shorter one (most likely, using length). E.g.,
zip' x xs y ys | length xs <= length ys = ...
| otherwise = ...
where x is the default value for shorter xs and y the default value for shorter ys.
Then you extend the shorter list with the desired default elements (enough to account for the additional elements of the other list). A neat trick for doing so without having to know the length of the longer list is to use the function repeat :: a -> [a] that repeats its argument infinitely often.
zip' x xs y ys | length xs <= length ys = zip {-do something with xs-} ys
| otherwise = zip xs {-do something with ys-}
Here is another solution, that does work on infinite lists and is a straightforward upgrade of Prelude's zip functions:
zipDefault :: a -> b -> [a] -> [b] -> [(a,b)]
zipDefault _da _db [] [] = []
zipDefault da db (a:as) [] = (a,db) : zipDefault da db as []
zipDefault da db [] (b:bs) = (da,b) : zipDefault da db [] bs
zipDefault da db (a:as) (b:bs) = (a,b) : zipDefault da db as bs
and
zipDefaultWith :: a -> b -> (a->b->c) -> [a] -> [b] -> [c]
zipDefaultWith _da _db _f [] [] = []
zipDefaultWith da db f (a:as) [] = f a db : zipDefaultWith da db f as []
zipDefaultWith da db f [] (b:bs) = f da b : zipDefaultWith da db f [] bs
zipDefaultWith da db f (a:as) (b:bs) = f a b : zipDefaultWith da db f as bs
#pigworker, thank you for your enlightening solution!
Yet another implementation:
zipWithDefault :: a -> b -> (a -> b -> c) -> [a] -> [b] -> [c]
zipWithDefault dx _ f [] ys = zipWith f (repeat dx) ys
zipWithDefault _ dy f xs [] = zipWith f xs (repeat dy)
zipWithDefault dx dy f (x:xs) (y:ys) = f x y : zipWithDefault dx dy f xs ys
And also:
zipDefault :: a -> b -> [a] -> [b] -> [c]
zipDefault dx dy = zipWithDefault dx dy (,)
I would like to address the second part of Will Ness's solution, with its excellent use of known functions, by providing another to the original question.
zipPadWith :: a -> b -> (a -> b -> c) -> [a] -> [b] -> [c]
zipPadWith n _ f [] l = [f n x | x <- l]
zipPadWith _ m f l [] = [f x m | x <- l]
zipPadWith n m f (x:xs) (y:ys) = f x y : zipPadWith n m f xs ys
This function will pad a list with an element of choice. You can use a list of the same element repeated as many times as the number of lists in another like this:
rectangularWith :: a -> [[a]] -> [[a]]
rectangularWith _ [] = []
rectangularWith _ [ms] = [[m] | m <- ms]
rectangularWith n (ms:mss) = zipPadWith n [n | _ <- mss] (:) ms (rectangularWith n mss)
The end result will have been a transposed rectangular list of lists padded by the element that we provided so we only need to import transpose from Data.List and recover the order of the elements.
mapM_ print $ transpose $ rectangularWith 0 [[1,2,3,4],[5,6],[7,8],[9]]
[1,2,3,4]
[5,6,0,0]
[7,8,0,0]
[9,0,0,0]

Haskell Function that Takes A Pair of Values and a List

My homework has been driving me up the wall. I am supposed to write a function called myRepl that takes a pair of values and a list and returns a new list such that each occurrence of the first value of the pair in the list is replaced with the second value.
Example:
ghci> myRepl (2,8) [1,2,3,4]
> [1,8,3,4].
So far I have something like this (but its very rough and not working well at all. I need help with the algorithm:
myRep1 (x,y) (z:zs) =
if null zs then []
else (if x == z then y : myRep1 zs
else myRep1 zs )
I don't know how to create a function that takes a pair of values and a list. I'm not sure what the proper syntax is for that, and I'm not sure how to go about the algorithm.
Any help would be appreciated.
How about something like:
repl (x,y) xs = map (\i -> if i==x then y else i) xs
Explanation
map is a function that takes a function, applies it to each value in the list, and combines all the return values of that function into a new list.
The \i -> notation is a shortcut for writing the full function definition:
-- Look at value i - if it's the same as x, replace it with y, else do nothing
replacerFunc x y i = if x == y then y else i
then we can rewrite the repl function:
repl (x, y) xs = map (replacerFunc x y) xs
I'm afraid the map function you just have to know - it is relatively easy to see how it works. See the docs:
http://www.haskell.org/hoogle/?hoogle=map
How to write this without map? Now, a good rule of thumb is to get the base case of the recursion out of the way first:
myRep1 _ [] = ???
Now you need a special case if the list element is the one you want to replace. I would recommend a guard for this, as it reads much better than if:
myRep1 (x,y) (z:zs)
| x == z = ???
| otherwise = ???
As this is home work, I left a few blanks for you to fill in :-)
myRepl :: Eq a => (a, a) -> [a] -> [a]
myRepl _ [] = []
myRepl (v, r) (x : xs) | x == v = r : myRepl (v, r) xs
| otherwise = x : myRepl (v, r) xs
Untupled arguments, pointfree, in terms of map:
replaceOccs :: Eq a => a -> a -> [a] -> [a]
replaceOccs v r = map (\ x -> if x == v then r else x)