From: Michael Neumann <mneumann@...>
Date: 2004-06-18T21:28:45+09:00
Subject: Re: [RCR] More enumerator functionality

On Fri, Jun 18, 2004 at 08:58:33PM +0900, Kristof Bastiaensen wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 01:54:19 +0900, Michael Neumann wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, Jun 18, 2004 at 12:03:44AM +0900, Kristof Bastiaensen wrote:
> >> Hi everybody,
> >> 
> >> I have finally posted my RCR for more enumerator
> >> functionality.
> >> 
> >> Find more about it here:
> >> http://rcrchive.net/rcr/RCR/RCR262
> > 
> > Can you give some more examples, where and how enum_if could be useful?
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> >   Michael
> 
> Well, enum_if is useful in at least two cases (as I wrote in
> the analysis).  It could be useful as a replacement for 
> Enumerable#select that may be more efficient in some cases,
> (when dealing with a large amount of data). 
> For example:
>   large_dataset.enum_if { |d| sometest(d) }.collect do |d|
>     <data manipulation>
>   end
> 
> It could also be useful to have a specialized enumerator
> that will reflect any changes made to the original object:

You first enum_if example, is a bit confusing:

  (0..4).enum_if { |i| i[0] == 0 }.to_a
  => [0, 2, 4]

It took me a while until I recognized that i[0] means the value of the
lowest bit.  Just for clearness, could you write either a comment, or
use (i & 0b1) instead? Or (i % 2) == 0.

> data = ["a", 6, 9, "foo", -19, "fuga", -19, "bach"]
> ints = data.enum_if { |i| i.is_a? Numeric }
> ints.to_a
> =>  [6, 9, -19, -19]
> 
> data += ["Bear", 20, 3]
> ints.to_a
> => [6, 9, -19, -19, 20, 3]
> 
> (I have added these examples to the RCR)

Aha, then it's something like a "lazy" enumerable, right?
Have a look at my code I wrote some weeks ago:

  require 'generator'
  module Enumerable
    def select_lazy(&block)
      Generator.new {|c| self.each { |elem| c.yield(elem) if block.call(elem) } }
    end

    def collect_lazy(&block)
      Generator.new {|c| self.each { |elem| c.yield(block.call(elem)) } }
    end

    alias map_lazy collect_lazy

    def lazy
      ChainingGenerator.new(self)
    end

    def no_lazy
      to_a
    end
  end

  class ChainingGenerator < Generator
    def select(&block)
      self.class.new {|c| self.each { |elem| c.yield(elem) if block.call(elem) } }
    end

    def collect(&block)
      self.class.new {|c| self.each { |elem| c.yield(block.call(elem)) } }
    end

    alias map collect

    # TODO: implement others
  end


  [1,2,3,4].lazy.map{|i| i + 1}.to_a # => [2,3,4,5]

  ["a", 6, 9, "foo", -19, "fuga", -19, "bach"].lazy.select{|i| i.is_a?  Numeric}.to_a

That's a more general form, as after the "lazy", all Enumerable
operations do not create intermediate arrays. Of course, it's very slow
compared to the non-lazy methods (Generator uses continuations). 

How performant is enum_if? 

Could I write for example:

  [1,2,3].enum_if{ cond }.map {|i| i + 1}


Regards,

  Michael