[Haskell-cafe] about Haskell code written to be "too smart"

[Jake McArthur]

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Manlio Perillo wrote:
| With the original version, you have to "follow" 3 separate operations:
|
| Prelude> let xs = [1, 2, 3, 4] :: [Int]
| Prelude> let ns = [3, 1] :: [Int]
| Prelude> let _1 = scanl (flip drop) xs ns
| Prelude> let _2 = init _1
| Prelude> let _3 = zipWith take ns _2
|
|
| With my function, instead, you only have to "follow" 1 operation:
|
| Prelude> (head, tail) = splitAt n xs

I think you are way oversimplifying your own code.

~    takeList :: [Int] -> [a] -> [[a]]
~    takeList [] _         =  []
~    takeList _ []         =  []
~    takeList (n : ns) xs  =  head : takeList ns tail
~        where (head, tail) = splitAt n xs

In order to understand this, I have to look at three different cases, an
uncons, a splitAt, a cons, *and* a recursive call. This is *seven*
different things I have to absorb.

- - Jake
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