[Haskell-cafe] Type signature for function where function parameter is used twice?

Ivan Lazar Miljenovic ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com
Sun Jul 19 09:02:34 UTC 2015


On 19 July 2015 at 18:52, Tony Morris <tonymorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> FYI
>
> f x = g x x
>
> can be written:
>
> f = join g

In this case it can't be, as Clinton has defined a new join function.

>
>
> On 19/07/15 18:51, Clinton Mead wrote:
>> I guess my question is, how to I type LHS so it is no more specialised
>> as RHS in this case?
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 19, 2015 at 6:42 PM, Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
>> <ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com <mailto:ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     My understanding is that when you have "LHS = RHS", you can replace
>>     any instance of LHS with RHS but you can't always do it the other way
>>     around, as the LHS might be more specialised (as in this case it is).
>>
>>     On 19 July 2015 at 18:08, Clinton Mead <clintonmead at gmail.com
>>     <mailto:clintonmead at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>     > Thanks for the CC Ivan, forgot to "reply all".
>>     >
>>     > I guess I want the passed argument to stay polymorphic long enough to be
>>     > instanced inside the call.
>>     >
>>     > Surely if "f x = g x x" then you should somehow be able to replace "g x x"
>>     > with "f x"?! That's basically what I'm getting at.
>>     >
>>     >
>>     >
>>     > On Sun, Jul 19, 2015 at 5:54 PM, Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
>>     > <ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com <mailto:ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>     >>
>>     >> (Re-CC'ing Cafe)
>>     >>
>>     >> I think what's happening here is that when you do "apply f1 f1", the
>>     >> two c's and d's don't actually match with each other.
>>     >>
>>     >> But when you do it with applyBoth, they *have* to match each other.
>>     >>
>>     >> As a comparison, compare:
>>     >>
>>     >> :t (read, read)
>>     >> (read, read) :: (Read a, Read a1) => (String -> a, String -> a1)
>>     >>
>>     >> and
>>     >>
>>     >> :t Control.Monad.join read
>>     >> Control.Monad.join (,) read :: Read a => (String -> a, String -> a)
>>     >>
>>     >> I'm not sure how you could define such a function to do what you're
>>     >> requesting; my attempt is this:
>>     >>
>>     >> applyBoth :: (forall a b a2 b2. arr a b -> arr a2 b2) -> D arr a b ->
>>     >> D arr a2 b2
>>     >> applyBoth f = apply f f
>>     >>
>>     >> but whilst ghci accepts it, I couldn't actually seem to use it (lots
>>     >> of errors about being unable to match types).
>>     >>
>>     >> On 19 July 2015 at 17:15, Clinton Mead <clintonmead at gmail.com <mailto:clintonmead at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>     >> > Thanks for your reply Ivan
>>     >> >
>>     >> > Here's a full code example ( http://ideone.com/1K3Yhw ):
>>     >>
>>     >> >
>>     >> > ---
>>     >> >
>>     >> > data D c a b = D (c a b) (c b a)
>>     >> >
>>     >> > apply :: (c a b -> c a2 b2) -> (c b a -> c b2 a2) -> D c a b ->
>>     D c a2
>>     >> > b2
>>     >> > apply f1 f2 (D x y) = D (f1 x) (f2 y)
>>     >> >
>>     >> > applyBoth f = apply f f
>>     >> >
>>     >> > f :: Int -> String
>>     >> > f = show
>>     >> >
>>     >> > g :: String -> Int
>>     >> > g = read
>>     >> >
>>     >> > h :: Int -> Int
>>     >> > h = (*2)
>>     >> >
>>     >> > join :: (a -> b) -> (c -> d) -> ((a, c) -> (b, d))
>>     >> > join f g (x, y) = (f x, g y)
>>     >> >
>>     >> > x1 = D f g
>>     >> >
>>     >> > f1 = join h
>>     >> >
>>     >> > y1 = apply f1 f1 x1 -- This compiles
>>     >> > y2 = apply g g x1 where g = f1 -- Also works
>>     >> >
>>     >> > z1 = applyBoth f1 x1 -- This fails
>>     >> >
>>     >> > main = return ()
>>     >> >
>>     >> > ---
>>     >> >
>>     >> > You see, with "y1" and "y2", a different "f1" instantiation (is
>>     that the
>>     >> > right word) of "f1" is chosen. Even when I let "g = f1", each
>>     "g" passed
>>     >> > to
>>     >> > apply is different, the first operates on "Int -> String", the
>>     second,
>>     >> > "String -> Int".
>>     >> >
>>     >> > On the face of it, if:
>>     >> >
>>     >> > f x = g x x
>>     >> >
>>     >> > Then well, you should be able to replace "g x x" with "f x"
>>     wherever you
>>     >> > see
>>     >> > it.
>>     >> >
>>     >> > But it seems in this case this doesn't work. Surely Haskell doesn't
>>     >> > require
>>     >> > me to "repeat myself", and there's a way to write "applyBoth",
>>     instead
>>     >> > of
>>     >> > having to write "apply f f" (note the repetition of f) all the
>>     time?
>>     >> >
>>     >> > I assume there's some type signature I can give "applyBoth f"
>>     so it can
>>     >> > be
>>     >> > used just like "apply f f" but I can't work out what it is.
>>     >> >
>>     >> > On Sun, Jul 19, 2015 at 10:23 AM, Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
>>     >> > <ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com <mailto:ivan.miljenovic at gmail.com>>
>>     wrote:
>>     >>
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> On 19 July 2015 at 10:13, Clinton Mead <clintonmead at gmail.com
>>     <mailto:clintonmead at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>     >> >> > Lets say I've got the following data type:
>>     >> >> >
>>     >> >> > data D c a b = D (c a b) (c b a)
>>     >> >> >
>>     >> >> > And I define a function to manipulate it:
>>     >> >> >
>>     >> >> > apply :: (c a b -> c a2 b2) -> (c b a -> c b2 a2) -> D c a b
>>     -> D c
>>     >> >> > a2
>>     >> >> > b2
>>     >> >> > apply f1 f2 (D x y) = D (f1 x) (f2 y)
>>     >> >> >
>>     >> >> > This is all fine. But I want a shorter function if (f1 =
>>     f2). So I
>>     >> >> > write:
>>     >> >> >
>>     >> >> > applyBoth f = apply f f
>>     >> >> >
>>     >> >> > I originally thought that if "apply f f" is valid, then
>>     logically
>>     >> >> > "applyBoth
>>     >> >> > f" should also be valid. But it seems that type inference
>>     results in
>>     >> >> > applyBoth only working for functions "c a a -> c a2 a2".
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> applyBoth f = apply f f
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> In apply, (f1 :: c a b -> c a2 b2) and (f2 :: c b a -> c b2 a2).
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> So for "apply f f" to typecheck, we must have that a ~ b and
>>     a2 ~ b2
>>     >> >> (as the above two type signatures must match since f1 = f2).
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> So we must have that (f :: c a a -> c a2 a2).
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> >
>>     >> >> > Is there a way to type "applyBoth" so it works for all
>>     functions that
>>     >> >> > would
>>     >> >> > work simply by repeating them twice in "apply"?
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> I'm not sure what you mean; what else would make sense?  Can you
>>     >> >> provide an example?
>>     >> >>
>>     >> >> --
>>     >> >> Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
>>     >> >> Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com <mailto:Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com>
>>     >> >> http://IvanMiljenovic.wordpress.com
>>     >> >
>>     >> >
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >>
>>     >> --
>>     >> Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
>>     >> Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com <mailto:Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com>
>>     >> http://IvanMiljenovic.wordpress.com
>>     >
>>     >
>>
>>
>>
>>     --
>>     Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
>>     Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com <mailto:Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com>
>>     http://IvanMiljenovic.wordpress.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
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-- 
Ivan Lazar Miljenovic
Ivan.Miljenovic at gmail.com
http://IvanMiljenovic.wordpress.com


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