Core.match interactive tutorial
source link: https://blog.klipse.tech/clojure/2016/10/25/core-match.html
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
Core.match interactive tutorial
Oct 25, 2016 • Yehonathan Sharvit
Pattern matching in clojure
core.match - An optimized pattern matching library for Clojure[script] - is almost available for self-host clojuresript
. It means that it can run in Planck and Klipse.
There is a JIRA ticket for the port of core.match
with a patch of mine - that makes core.match
self-host compatible. (Please take a couple of seconds to vote for this ticket)
With this patch, we can make this interactive tutorial of core.match
- that will guide you through all the features of core.match
. Actually, this tutorial is a rewrite of a wiki page form core.match
GitHub repository - with a tweak: the code snippets are interactive.
Introduction
Let’s require core.match
from my fork of core.match (until it gets merged into the official repo).
xxxxxxxxxx
(ns my.match
(:require [cljs.core.match :refer-macros [match]]))
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Now, we can play with core.match
.
Matching Literals
The simplest thing you can do is match literals:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x true
y true
z true]
(match [x y z]
[_ false true] 1
[false true _ ] 2
[_ _ false] 3
[_ _ true] 4
:else 5))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Note that the only clause that matches the values of the local
variables is the fourth one. “Wildcards”, the _
, in the pattern
signifies values that are present that you don’t actually care about.
When matching on a single variable you may omit the brackets:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x true]
(match x
true 1
false 2
:else 5))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
FizzBuzz
Now, let’s solves the famous Fizz-buzz interview question:
xxxxxxxxxx
(with-out-str (doseq [n (range 1 11)]
(println
(match [(mod n 3) (mod n 5)]
[0 0] "FizzBuzz"
[0 _] "Fizz"
[_ 0] "Buzz"
:else n))))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Binding
You may match values and give them names for later use:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x 1 y 2]
(match [x y]
[1 b] b
[a 2] a
:else nil))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
This may seem pointless here but in complex patterns this feature becomes more useful (consider red black tree balancing for example).
Sequential types
You may match sequences by using the sequence matching facility:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x [1 2 nil nil nil]]
(match [x]
[([1] :seq)] :a0
[([1 2] :seq)] :a1
[([1 2 nil nil nil] :seq)] :a2
:else nil))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Note this works on all ISeqs
as well as Sequential
types.
Vector types
You can also match vector types, the benefit is much better performance when you want to test something internal without looking at earlier values - random access:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x [1 2 3]]
(match [x]
[[_ _ 2]] :a0
[[1 1 3]] :a1
[[1 2 3]] :a2
:else :a3))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
core.match
will optimize this case and test the third column first.
Rest patterns
Both seq and vector patterns support rest patterns. As in Clojure’s builtin destructuring, rest pattern will capture the “rest” of a collection.
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x '(1 2)]
(match [x]
[([1] :seq)] :a0
[([1 & r] :seq)] [:a1 r]
:else nil))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Map patterns
core.match
supports matching maps. Here is a simple example:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x {:a 1 :b 1}]
(match [x]
[{:a _ :b 2}] :a0
[{:a 1 :b 1}] :a1
[{:c 3 :d _ :e 4}] :a2
:else nil))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
This will return :a1
. Note that if you specify a key but you don’t
care about its value, you are asserting that the key must at least be
present. For example:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x {:a 1 :b 1}]
(match [x]
[{:c _}] :a0
:else :no-match))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
will return :no-match
since the map does not have the key :c
.
It’s also useful to specify that some map has only a set of
specified keys, this can be accomplished with the :only
map pattern
modifier:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x {:a 1 :b 2}]
(match [x]
[({:a _ :b 2} :only [:a :b])] :a0
[{:a 1 :c _}] :a1
[{:c 3 :d _ :e 4}] :a2
:else nil))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
This will return :a0
however the following:
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x {:a 1 :b 2 :c 3}]
(match [x]
[({:a _ :b 2} :only [:a :b])] :a0
[{:a 1 :c _}] :a1
[{:c 3 :d _ :e 4}] :a2
:else nil))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Will return :a1
.
Or patterns
core.match
supports “or” patterns - sugar for specifying
alternatives.
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [x 4 y 6 z 9]
(match [x y z]
[(:or 1 2 3) _ _] :a0
[4 (:or 5 6 7) _] :a1
:else nil))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
This is much more succinct that having to define six separate clauses.
Guards
core.match
supports arbitrary guards on patterns:
xxxxxxxxxx
(match [1 2]
[(_ :guard #(odd? %)) (_ :guard odd?)] :a1
[(_ :guard #(odd? %)) _] :a2
:else :a4)
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Nesting
It is possible to match on nested maps:
xxxxxxxxxx
(match [{:a {:b :c}}]
[{:a {:b nested-arg}}] nested-arg)
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
Function application
core.match supports pattern matching on the result of function applications
xxxxxxxxxx
(let [n 0]
(match [n]
[(1 :<< inc)] :one
[(2 :<< dec)] :two
:else :no-match))
xxxxxxxxxx
the evaluation will appear here (soon)...
The right hand side is the function to apply, the left hand side is any valid pattern.
The algorithm
The core.match
algorithm is based on Luc Maranget’s paper
Compiling Pattern Matching to good Decision Trees.
A gentle description of the algorithm is provided in core.match wiki.
Self-host Clojurescript rocks!
to stay up-to-date with the coolest interactive articles around the world.
Discover more cool interactive articles about javascript, clojure[script], python, ruby, scheme, c++ and even brainfuck!
Give Klipse a Github star to express how much you appreciate Code Interactivity.
Subscribe to the Klipse newsletter:Feel free to email me [email protected] for getting practical tips and tricks in writing your first interactive blog post.
Recommend
About Joyk
Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK