Introduction to ML : Introduction to ML CS 331
Principles of Programming Languages
revised Spring 2003
Features of ML : Features of ML A pure functional language
serious programs can be written without using variables
Widely accepted
reasonable performance (claimed)
can be compiled
syntax not as arcane (or as simple) as LISP
In these slides, : In these slides, We use Standard ML of New Jersey
Runs on PCs, Linux, and other flavors of UNIX
Much of this material is based on Ullman’s book, Elements of ML Programming
See the SML documentation at http://www.smlnj.org
Running SML on linix.gl : Running SML on linix.gl The SML processor is available at /afs/umbc.edu/users/n/i/nicholas/pub/331/smlnj.linux/bin or equivalently ~nicholas/../pub/331/smlnj.linux/bin
Add this directory to your path, and do a rehash
Then invoke sml from a shell prompt with the command sml
Use control d to exit interpreter
Hello, world in SML : Hello, world in SML Standard ML of New Jersey,
- print("Hello world\n");
Hello world
val it = () : unit
-
Arithmetic in ML : Arithmetic in ML Copy and paste the following text into a Standard ML window 2+2; (* note semicolon at end*)
3*4;
4/3; (* an error! *)
6 div 2; (* integer division *)
7 div 3;
Declaring Constants : Declaring Constants Constants are not exactly the same as variables
they can be redefined, but existing uses of that constant (e.g. in function definitions) aren’t affected by such redefinition val freezingFahr = 32;
Ints and Reals : Ints and Reals Int.abs ~3;
Int.sign ~3;
Int.max (4, 7);
Int.min (~2, 2);
real(freezingFahr);
Math.sqrt real(2);
Math.sqrt(real(2));
Math.sqrt(real 3); Note ~ is unary minus
min and max take just two input arguments, but that can be fixed!
The real operator converts to real
Parens can sometimes be omitted, but I don’t recommend it
Slide9 : - Int.abs ~3;
val it = 3 : int
- Int.sign ~3;
val it = ~1 : int
- Int.max (4, 7);
val it = 7 : int
- Int.min (~2, 2);
val it = ~2 : int
- Math.sqrt real(2);
stdIn:57.1-57.18 Error: operator and operand don't agree
[tycon mismatch]
operator domain: real
operand: int -> real
in expression:
Math.sqrt real
- Math.sqrt(real(2));
val it = 1.41421356237 : real
- Math.sqrt(real 3);
val it = 1.73205080757 : real
Strings : Strings Delimited by double quotes
the caret mark ^ is used for string concatenation, e.g. “house”^”cat”
\n is used for newline, as in C and C++
Comparison Operators : Comparison Operators The usual <, >, <=, >= and <> are available
For reals, = and <> are not available
For reals a and b, a <= b andalso a>= b is an equality test
The connectors “andalso” and “orelse” are logical operators with short-circuit evaluation
If Then Else : If Then Else If Then Else is an expression, not a control structure
Example, if quotient, dividend and divisor are reals, we might have val quotient = if divisor > 0 then dividend/divisor else 0
Tuples : Tuples Tuples are data items drawn from a Cartesian product type. Example: type fraction = int * int; val foo: fraction = (44,100); #1(foo); (* returns 44 *) #2(foo); (* returns 100 *)
Tuples are of fixed size, e.g. 2 in this example
Lists in ML : Lists in ML Objects in a list must be of the same type
[1,2,3];
[“dog”, “cat”, “moose”];
The empty list is written [] or nil
Making Lists : Making Lists The @ operator is used to concatenate two lists of the same type
The :: operator makes a new list in which its first operand is the new first element of a list which is otherwise like the second operand.
The functions hd and tl give the first element of the list, and the rest of the list, respectively
List Operations : List Operations - val list1 = [1,2,3];
val list1 = [1,2,3] : int list
- val list2 = [3,4,5];
val list2 = [3,4,5] : int list
- list1@list2;
val it = [1,2,3,3,4,5] : int list
- hd list1;
val it = 1 : int
- tl list2;
val it = [4,5] : int list
More List Operations : More List Operations - val list1 = [1,2,3];
val list1 = [1,2,3] : int list
- val list2 = [3,4,5];
val list2 = [3,4,5] : int list
- 4::list1;
val it = [4,1,2,3] : int list
- val list3 = list1::list2;
an error!
- val list3=list1@list2;
val list3 = [1,2,3,3,4,5] : int list
- length(list3);
val length(list3) = 6
Strings and Lists : Strings and Lists The explode function converts a string into a list of characters
The implode function converts a list of characters into a string
Examples: - explode("foo");
val it = [#"f",#"o",#"o"] : char list
- implode [#"c",#"a",#"t"];
val it = "cat" : string
-
Heads and Tails : Heads and Tails The cons operator :: takes an element and prepends it to a list of that same type.
For example, the expression 1::[2,3] results in the list [1,2,3]
What’s the value of [1,2]::[ [3,4], [5,6]] ?
What’s the value of x::[], for any atom x?
Declaring Functions : Declaring Functions A function takes an input value and returns an output value
ML will figure out the types
Notes : Notes ML is picky about not mixing types, such as int and real, in expressions
The value of “it” is always the last value computed
Function arguments don’t always need parentheses, but it doesn’t hurt to use them
Types of arguments and results : Types of arguments and results ML figures out the input and/or output types for simple expressions, constant declarations, and function declarations
If the default isn’t what you want, you can specify the input and output types, e.g. fun divBy2 x:int = x div 2 : int;
fun divideBy2 (y : real) = y / 2.0;
divBy2 (5);
divideBy2 (5.0);
Two similar divide functions : Two similar divide functions - fun divBy2 x:int = x div 2 : int;
val divBy2 = fn : int -> int
- fun divideBy2 (y : real) = y / 2.0;
val divideBy2 = fn : real -> real
- divBy2 (5);
val it = 2 : int
- divideBy2 (5.0);
val it = 2.5 : real
-
Functions and Patterns : Functions and Patterns Recall that min and max take just two arguments
However, using the fact that, for example,
min(a, b, c) = min(a, min(b, c))
Generalizing Min : Generalizing Min An example of ML pattern matching
the cons notation x::xs is both a binary constructor and a pattern
cases aren’t supposed to overlap
Note that lists of any size are supported
but the elements are expected to be integers
checking that the rest of the list is non-empty is critical - but why?
Slide26 : (* Sample ML program - MinList *)
(* Takes a list of integers as input, and returns a list with at most one element, i.e. the smallest element in the list *)
fun MinList([]) = [] |
MinList(x::xs) =
if null(xs) then [x]
else [Int.min(x,hd(MinList(xs)))];
MinList([]);
MinList([1,2]);
MinList([315, 41, 59, 265, 35, 897]);
When we run MinList,… : When we run MinList,… - use "MinList.sml";
[opening MinList.sml]
val MinList = fn : int list -> int list
val it = [] : int list
val it = [1] : int list
val it = [35] : int list
val it = () : unit
Building trees : Building trees It’s easy to build recursive data types in ML
Some examples follow
Slide29 : (* Sample ML program - Abstract Syntax Trees *)
(* Declare the ast datatype *)
datatype ast = empty
| leaf of int
| node of string*ast*ast;
fun traverse(empty) = print "empty tree" |
traverse(leaf(n)) = (print (Int.toString(n)); print " ") |
traverse(node(operator, left, right)) = (
traverse(left);
print operator;
traverse(right));
fun prefix(tree:ast) = (traverse(tree); print "\n");
prefix(empty);
prefix(leaf(4));
prefix(node("*",node("+",leaf(5),leaf(3)),node("-",leaf(10),leaf(4))));
Two ways to count : Two ways to count (* count from i to j *)
fun countUp(i:int, j:int) =
if i=j then print(" "^Int.toString(j))
else (countUp(i,j-1);print(" "^Int.toString(j)));
(* count from i to j *)
fun TcountUp(i:int, j:int) =
if i=j then print(" "^Int.toString(j)^"\n")
else (print(" "^Int.toString(i));TcountUp(i+1,j));
What about control structures? : What about control structures? Well, there aren’t any in the usual (procedural) sense
If then else, case, and iteration are all accomplished by evaluation of expressions
Iteration vs. Recursion : Iteration vs. Recursion (* note that F is a functional parameter *)
fun loopIt(i:int,n:int,F) =
if i = n then F(i)
else
let
val dummy = F(i)
val dummy2 = loopIt(i+1,n,F)
in dummy2 (* any expression could be used *)
end;
The Print Function : The Print Function print(“This string\n”);
print(“2+2 is “^Int.toString(2+2)^”\n”);
Expressions may be grouped with parentheses, e.g (print(“a”);print(“b”))
But the grouped expressions may not change the environment, so this is not the same as a block in a procedural language
More About I/O : More About I/O To access functions in the TextIO structure, open TextIO;
To open a file openIn(“somefile”);
The value returned is of type instream
endOfStream(file:instream): bool
inputN(file:instream,n:int):string
input(file:stream):string (* whole file *)
Matches and Functions : Matches and Functions Example of match expression: val rec reverse = fn nil => nil| x::xs => reverse(xs) @ [x];
The rec keyword stands for “recursive”, which is necessary because the binding of reverse as a function name is not yet established
Anonymous Functions : Anonymous Functions Functions don’t have to have names, e.g. (fn x => x+1) (3) yields 4
Such functions can be passed as parameters, e.g. for use in the map or reduce functions, to be discussed later in this chapter.
If Then Else = Case : If Then Else = Case The familiar if E1 then E2 else E3 is equivalent to case E1 of true => E2 | false => E3
Example: if x #”a” | false => #“b” (* note same types *)
Exceptions : Exceptions exception Foo and Bar;
raise Foo;
exception Foo of string;
The handle clause matches exceptions with (hopefully) suitable actions
Exceptions can be defined in let clauses
Polymorphic Functions : Polymorphic Functions If you don’t know the type in advance, or if it doesn’t matter, ‘a list matches a list of any type
Example: fun listLen(x: ‘a list) = if x = nil then 0 else 1+listLen(tl(x));
Higher Order Functions : Higher Order Functions Functions may be passed as parameters,e.g. fun trap(a,b,n,F)= if n <= 0 orelse b-a <= 0.0 then 0.0 else let val delta = (b-a)/real(n) in delta*(F(a)+F(a+delta))/2.0+ trap(a+delta,b,n-1,F) end;
Higher-Order Function map : Higher-Order Function map The map function map(F,[a1,a2,…,an]) produces the list [F(a1),F(a2),…,F(an)]
The function may be defined (per Harper’s new ML book) fun map f nil = nil | map f (h::t) = (f h)::(map f t)
Higher-Order Function reduce : Higher-Order Function reduce The reduce function reduce(F,[a1,a2,…,an]) produces F(a1,F(a2,F(…,F(an-1, an)…)))
The reduce function may be implemented as follows (from Ullman) exception EmptyList; fun reduce (F, nil) = raise EmptyList | reduce (F, [a]) = a | reduce (F, x::xs) = F(x, reduce(F,xs));
More on reduce : More on reduce Harper gives a more general form of reduce fun reduce (unit, opn, nil) = unit | reduce (unit, opn, h::t) = opn(h, reduce (unit, opn, t))
Example: two ways to sum a list of numbers fun add_up nil = 0 | add_up(h::t) = h + add_up t or fun add_up alist = reduce (0, op +, alist)
The op keyword allows + to be a parameter
More on reduce : More on reduce To avoid passing unit and opn as parameters that don’t change, again from Harper’s book, fun better_reduce (unit, opn, alist) = let fun red nil = unit | red (h::t) = opn(h, red t)) in red alist end
We have less overhead by passing only those parameters that change
More on reduce : More on reduce “Staging” helps even more! Again from Harper fun staged_reduce (unit, opn) = let fun red nil = unit | red (h::t) = opn(h, red t)) in red end
We can use staged_reduce on many lists, e.g. reduce(unit, opn, alist) is the same as (but slower than) staged_reduce(unit, opn) alist
Higher-Order Function filter : Higher-Order Function filter The filter function takes a predicate P and a list [a1,a2,…,an] and returns the sublist such that P is true for every element of the sublist
To implement filter fun filter(P, nil) = nil | filter(P, x::xs) = if P x then x::filter(P,xs) else filter(P,xs)
The ML Type System : The ML Type System Basic types include int, real, string, char, bool, and others
Tuple types, e.g. int*real*char
Function types, e.g. int->bool
Type constructors list and option
int list
char option
Creating Names for Types : Creating Names for Types type orderpair = int*int
type finiteSequence = real list;
and these can be parameterized
Datatypes : Datatypes Enumerated types, e.g. datatype berryType = raspberry | blueberry | blackberry;
So then we can say, for example, val b:berryType = raspberry;
Recursive Datatypes : Recursive Datatypes Example: binary trees, where the values may be of some type ‘label: datatype ‘label btree = Empty | Node of ‘label * ‘label btree * ‘label btree
val inBinary: int btree = Node(5,Node(1,Empty,Empty),Empty)
ASTs Revisited : (* Sample ML program - Abstract Syntax Trees *) (* Assume that terminalType and nonterminalType already known *) (* Declare the ast datatype *) datatype ast = empty | leaf of terminalType | node of nonterminalType*(ast list); fun traverse(empty) = print "empty tree" | traverse(leaf(t)) = (printTerminal t; print " ") | traverse(node(nt, []) = printNonterminal(nt) | traverse(node(nt, x::xs)) = (printNonterminal(nt); traverse(x); traverseList(xs)) and fun traverseList([]) = print “ “ | traverseList(x::xs) = (traverse(x); traverseList(xs)); ASTs Revisited
Record Structures : Record Structures Records are wrapped in curly braces, and fields are separated by commas
Field names may be used to refer to specific elements of the record
Record Example : Record Example - type addressType = {street:string, city:string, zip:int};
type addressType = {city:string, street:string, zip:int}
(note that SML sorted the fields alphabetically)
- val umbc:addressType = {street="1000 Hilltop Circle",
city="Baltimore",zip=21250};
val umbc = {city="Baltimore",street="1000 Hilltop Circle",
zip=21250} : addressType
- #city(umbc);
val it = "Baltimore" : string
Pattern Matching in Records : Pattern Matching in Records Pattern matching works, as in x as {street=xstr,city=xcity,zip=xzip}::xs
If we don’t care about all the fields, use an ellipsis, e.g. x as {street=xstr,…}::xs
Or even x as {city,…}
Arrays : Arrays open Array; val zeroVector = array(100,0);
sub(zeroVector,0) is zero, as is sub(zeroVector,99)
update(zeroVector,2,3.14) changes the third element of the (now misnamed) zeroVector
Case Studies : Case Studies Hash tables
Make an array of hash buckets, each bucket containing a simple list of values
Triangularization of a matrix
If the array has m rows and n columns, make an array of m elements, each element being an array of n elements.