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Re: [Haskell-cafe] Re: [Haskell-beginners] Just how unsafe is unsafe
by Roel van Dijk 06 Feb '09

06 Feb '09

On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 5:22 PM, Alberto G. Corona <agocorona(a)gmail.com> wrote: > then Data.List.head Data.Maybe.fromMaybe etc are also unsafe?. Yes, I consider them unsafe. Whenever I see those functions I know that I have to look elsewhere to see if their preconditions hold. I would have preferred that listToMaybe was called head and the existing head called unsafeHead, partialHead or something else of that nature. > unsafe does > not mean "with possible errors". unsafeXXX convert something in the IO monad > into something that is not. So it can potentially contaminate your pure > code. > But Data.List.head applied to a empty list will interrupt the computation > abruptly, so your code using head will either run side effect free or not > run at all. I guess what unsafe should mean is a matter of taste. Personally I find correctness more important that pureness. An unsafe function will crash your program if evaluated when its preconditions do not hold. Whether that is because of impurity (segmentation fault?), a partial pattern match or a direct error "bla" is not that important. It might be important when determining why your program crashed, but the result is still the same. The ByteString library has a module called Data.ByteString.Unsafe with plenty of unsafeXXX functions. The comment for unsafeHead for example states: "A variety of head for non-empty ByteStrings. unsafeHead omits the check for the empty case, so there is an obligation on the programmer to provide a proof that the ByteString is non-empty." That perfectly reflects my own philosophy on this issue.

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Parsing a file with data divided into sections
by Patrick LeBoutillier 06 Feb '09

06 Feb '09

Hi all, I wanted to parse a file that looks like this: MONDAY JOHN JIM LINDA TUESDAY BILL BOB WEDNESDAY THURSDAY SAM TODD LARRY LUKE FRIDAY TED in order to count the number of people for each day. After a (very) long time and a lot of trial and error, I managed to do it with this program: import Char (isSpace) main = interact (unlines . countSections . lines) where countSections = map (show) . snd . foldr compileSections (0, []) compileSections line (n, acc) = if isSection line then (0, (line, n) : acc) else (n + 1, acc) isSection line = not . isSpace . head $ line which outputs: ("MONDAY",3) ("TUESDAY",2) ("WEDNESDAY",0) ("THURSDAY",4) ("FRIDAY",1) I had quite a hard time figuring out how to keep count of the number of records in each sections. Is there a more obvious way to handle these types of problems? Are there some builtins that could of made it easier? In Perl I would probably have used a hash and a variable to keep count of the current day, incrementing the hash value for each person until I got to the next day, but it's not obvious to me how to transpose this technique to functional programming. Thanks a lot, Patrick -- ===================== Patrick LeBoutillier Rosemère, Québec, Canada

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Just how unsafe is unsafe
by Andrew Wagner 06 Feb '09

06 Feb '09

So we all know the age-old rule of thumb, that unsafeXXX is simply evil and anybody that uses it should be shot (except when it's ok). I understand that unsafeXXX allows impurity, which defiles our ability to reason logically about haskell programs like we would like to. My question is, to what extent is this true? Suppose we had a module, UnsafeRandoms, which had a function that would allow you to generate a different random number every time you call it. The semantics are relatively well-defined, impurity is safely sectioned off in its own impure module, which is clearly labeled as such. How much damage does this do? Can we push the lines elsewhere? Is sectioning unsafeXXX into Unsafe modules a useful idiom that we can use for other things as well?

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linked lists
by Matthew J. Williams 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

Dear All What would be the haskell equivalent of the C++ linked list complete with nodes? the list structure -- x:[} -- is the closest I've found. Sincerely Matthew J. Williams

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Understanding cached fibonnacci function
by Patrick LeBoutillier 31 Jan '09

31 Jan '09

Hi all, I recently stumbled on this example in some wiki: mfib :: Int -> Integer mfib = (map fib [0 ..] !!) where fib 0 = 0 fib 1 = 1 fib n = mfib (n-2) + mfib (n-1) I don't understand how the results get cached. When mfib is recursively called, doesn't a new (map fib [0 ..] !!) start over again? Or perhaps I'm thinking too imperatively here... Also, if I change the definition to this (adding "a" on both sides): mfib :: Int -> Integer mfib a = (map fib [0 ..] !!) a where fib 0 = 0 fib 1 = 1 fib n = mfib (n-2) + mfib (n-1) the funtion becomes slow again. Why is that? Thanks a lot, Patrick LeBoutillier -- ===================== Patrick LeBoutillier Rosemère, Québec, Canada

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Understanding cached fibonnacci function
by Patrick LeBoutillier 30 Jan '09

30 Jan '09

Hi all, I recently stumbled on this example in some wiki: mfib :: Int -> Integer mfib = (map fib [0 ..] !!) where fib 0 = 0 fib 1 = 1 fib n = mfib (n-2) + mfib (n-1) I don't understand how the results get cached. When mfib is recursively called, doesn't a new (map fib [0 ..] !!) start over again? Or perhaps I'm thinking too imperatively here... Also, if I change the definition to this (adding "a" on both sides): mfib :: Int -> Integer mfib a = (map fib [0 ..] !!) a where fib 0 = 0 fib 1 = 1 fib n = mfib (n-2) + mfib (n-1) the funtion becomes slow again. Why is that? Thanks a lot, Patrick LeBoutillier -- ===================== Patrick LeBoutillier Rosemère, Québec, Canada

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Re : Re: [Haskell-beginners] Compile type Error
by emmanuel.delaborde 30 Jan '09

30 Jan '09

On 29 Jan 2009, at 16:10, beginners-request(a)haskell.org wrote: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > I didn't compile, but, by the looks of it, I would change > > import qualified Data.ByteString as BS (readFile) > > for > > import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as BS (readFile) > > > as it seems sha1 needs a lazy bytestring Thanks ! It compiles now but brings me to my real problem :) If I uncomment this line "md5" -> md5sum I get the following : ------ module Main where import System.Environment (getArgs) import Data.Digest.OpenSSL.MD5 (md5sum) import Data.Digest.Pure.SHA (sha1, showDigest) import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as BS (readFile) -- sha1 :: ByteString -> Digest -- readFile :: FilePath -> IO ByteString -- md5sum :: ByteString -> String -- showDigest :: Digest -> String checkHash :: String -> String -> String -> IO () checkHash codec hash file = let f = case codec of "md5" -> md5sum "sha1" -> showDigest . sha1 _ -> error "Codec must be md5 or sha1 !" in BS.readFile file >>= \fileBS -> let fileHash = f fileBS in print (hash == fileHash) main = getArgs >>= \as -> case as of (codec:hash:file:_) -> checkHash codec hash file _ -> usage usage = print "checksum codec hash file" ------ which now fails to compile with this error : checksum.hs:17:22: Couldn't match expected type `Data.ByteString.Internal.ByteString' against inferred type `Data.ByteString.Lazy.Internal.ByteString' In the expression: showDigest . sha1 In a case alternative: "sha1" -> showDigest . sha1 In the expression: case codec of { "md5" -> md5sum "sha1" -> showDigest . sha1 _ -> error "Codec must be md5 or sha1 !" } How can I both use md5sum and sha1 when one use a lazy ByteString end the other one does not ? Thanks E -- Emmanuel Delaborde Web Technologist Cimex 53-55 Scrutton Street, London UK, EC2A 4PJ T: +44 (0)20 7324 7780 F: +44 (0)20 7324 7781 http://www.cimex.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of Cimex Media Ltd and any affiliated companies, unless specifically stated. It is intended for the use of the individual or group to whom it is addressed. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it and please notify postmaster(a)cimex.com A company registered in England Wales. Company Number 03765711 Registered Office : The Olde Bakehouse, 156 Watling Street East, Towcester, Northants NN12 6DB This email was scanned by Postini, the leading provider in Managed Email Security.

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Question about Real World Haskell
by Alan Cameron 29 Jan '09

29 Jan '09

In Chapter 3 of Real World Haskell it is not clear to me how to get the myInfo into the ghci system there appears to be two definitions for ch03/BookStore.hs can anyone help? Alan Cameron

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Compile type Error
by emmanuel.delaborde 29 Jan '09

29 Jan '09

Hello I have the following snippet : ---------------------------------------------------------- module Main where import System.Environment (getArgs) import Data.Digest.OpenSSL.MD5 (md5sum) import Data.Digest.Pure.SHA (sha1, showDigest) import qualified Data.ByteString as BS (readFile) -- sha1 :: ByteString -> Digest -- readFile :: FilePath -> IO ByteString -- md5sum :: ByteString -> String -- showDigest :: Digest -> String checkHash :: String -> String -> String -> IO () checkHash codec hash file = let f = case codec of --"md5" -> md5sum "sha1" -> showDigest . sha1 _ -> error "Codec must be md5 or sha1 !" in BS.readFile file >>= \fileBS -> let fileHash = f fileBS in print (hash == fileHash) main = getArgs >>= \as -> case as of (codec:hash:file:_) -> checkHash codec hash file _ -> usage usage = print "checksum codec hash file" ---------------------------------------------------------- which fails to compile, this is the error I get : checksum.hs:20:19: Couldn't match expected type `Data.ByteString.Lazy.Internal.ByteString' against inferred type `Data.ByteString.Internal.ByteString' In the first argument of `f', namely `fileBS' In the expression: f fileBS In the definition of `fileHash': fileHash = f fileBS it looks like (showDigest . sha1) expects Data.ByteString.Lazy.Internal.ByteString but gets Data.ByteString.Internal.ByteString What can I do ? Thanks E. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of Cimex Media Ltd and any affiliated companies, unless specifically stated. It is intended for the use of the individual or group to whom it is addressed. If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system, do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it and please notify postmaster(a)cimex.com A company registered in England Wales. Company Number 03765711 Registered Office : The Olde Bakehouse, 156 Watling Street East, Towcester, Northants NN12 6DB This email was scanned by Postini, the leading provider in Managed Email Security.

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Real World Haskell book authors accepting comments?
by Alan Cameron 29 Jan '09

29 Jan '09

The online version of the book seems to have stopped accepting comments - at least from me. Alan Cameron

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