Another option would be extending *for* to accept matches and set bindings in its macro's list of clauses, like *with* (which also mixes *<-* with *=*)
list = [1] for option <- list, option = {key, value} do {option, key, value} end # proposal would raise runtime MatchError # today raises compiletime CompileError: undefined function key/0 I actually like this even more than the other proposals I've advocated for. It'd bring the only other *<-* operator-using-construct (*for*) closer to the featureset of *with* and raises the intuitive *MatchError* instead of the *ForClauseError* that would be more consistent with other implementations. On Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 10:51:19 AM UTC-7 zachary....@gmail.com wrote: > Ultimately if we don’t prefer the operator, I’d rather just see: > > for var <- list do > %{destructured: data} = var > end > > Over the `for!` operator. I don’t know why the operator seems so much > better than `for!` to me though. > > On Jun 15, 2021, at 1:45 PM, Stefan Chrobot <ste...@chrobot.io> wrote: > > Ideally, <- and = would have the same semantics in "for" and "with", but > I'm not sure how confusing "for {:ok, post} = posts, do: ..." would be. > > Given all that, I find "for!" to be the best approach, except for the > name. As stated before, a bang version feels like a precedent. I think > "fors" ("for strict") is better (like def and defp), or maybe a totally > different name for a loop (while?, loop?, rep?, iter?). > > wt., 15 cze 2021 o 19:06 José Valim <jose....@dashbit.co> napisał(a): > >> I am against introducing a new operator because I think that will be just >> unclear. Regardless if we pick "<!-" or "<<-", I don't think the notation >> would be clear to everyone reading the code. Between for!, a strict option, >> and the operator, the operator is, in my opinion, the most unreadable. >> >> Furthermore, the operator doesn't have a use in "with", because "with" >> can use = for strict matches. >> >> >> On Tue, Jun 15, 2021 at 6:59 PM Stefan Chrobot <ste...@chrobot.io> wrote: >> >>> How about an "else" block for the items that don't match? >>> >>> for {:ok, item} <- items do >>> # ... >>> else >>> # ... >>> end >>> >>> This would be consistent with <- in "with". I'm assuming the intention >>> would be to prefer "for!" over "for" for most of the cases so the issue >>> with this is a need to figure out a terse syntax for raising a MatchError >>> without having to type something like "else _ -> raise MatchError"; plus >>> also include what was being attempted in the error message. Is "else raise" >>> an option? >>> >>> Best, >>> Stefan >>> >>> niedz., 13 cze 2021 o 14:06 Adam Lancaster <ad...@a-corp.co.uk> >>> napisał(a): >>> >>>> That makes sense! >>>> >>>> I guess you could make a new operator available outside of the `for` >>>> too, like back in a `with`... Maybe `<-!` >>>> >>>> Best >>>> >>>> Adam >>>> >>>> >>>> On 11 Jun 2021, at 19:11, Paul Schoenfelder <paulscho...@fastmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> In my opinion, internal consistency is part of the mental model, so >>>> inconsistency reflects a flaw in the model. That said, I think that's >>>> probably talking past you on this a bit, and I get what your point is: >>>> ultimately if it is reasonably intuitive, consistency can be allowed to >>>> fall by the wayside a bit. I guess where I disagree is that I'm not sure >>>> this will intuitive for someone not already steeped in the language. The >>>> point I was getting at by comparing `for` and `with` is that they both >>>> make >>>> use of the same `<-` operator in a way that is consistent across both >>>> forms, but with `for!` that falls apart. >>>> >>>> Now back to `for!`. Even though it looks just like `for`, the `<-` >>>> operator starts to behave like `=`. If you are skimming code and happen to >>>> miss the single character difference between the two (`for` vs `for!`), >>>> you >>>> will wind up with a very different idea about what the same code does. The >>>> human brain is terrible at distinguishing small differences like this, >>>> it's >>>> why you can typo things like `behavior` and `behaviour` and read right >>>> over >>>> it without noticing, sometimes even when you are _trying_ to notice those >>>> things. >>>> >>>> I think it would be far better for us to use a new operator in place of >>>> `<-`, rather than a new special form that looks basically identical to an >>>> existing one, but works differently in subtle ways. Not to mention, the >>>> operator approach would allow one to mix both `<-` and the new operator >>>> together in the same `for`, should it be useful to do so. In any case, I >>>> don't really have a strong opinion on what that operator is specifically, >>>> but I am much more in favor of that direction, than I am `for!`. >>>> >>>> Paul >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Jun 11, 2021, at 9:24 AM, Adam Lancaster wrote: >>>> >>>> I'm definitely sympathetic to that idea. >>>> >>>> I think part of what internal consistency buys us is predictability and >>>> therefore a quicker path to a good mental model about what the code is >>>> going to do. But the mental model is the more important thing. Which is >>>> just to say if we don't have internal consistency but we can get to a good >>>> mental model, then I think it might be okay. >>>> >>>> I think given other functions that follow the same idea, seeing a >>>> `for!` would certainly communicate "right this is expected to raise under >>>> some condition" - at least to me. >>>> >>>> There's also not an obvious way to have `for` mimic `with` when I think >>>> about it because say you do this: >>>> >>>> ``` >>>> for [a, _] = [1, 2], do: ... >>>> ``` >>>> >>>> there is no way to distinguish it from a filter - where `=` should not >>>> raise a match error. >>>> >>>> I think you'd have to more clearly de-mark the difference between the >>>> generators and the filters, which feels like a big change. >>>> >>>> >>>> Best >>>> >>>> Adam >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 11 Jun 2021, at 00:13, Paul Schoenfelder <paulscho...@fastmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> I’m generally in favor of the option to have stricter semantics, but to >>>> me the introduction of `for!` feels out of sync with other special forms, >>>> none of which are bang-form. Furthermore, especially in contrast to >>>> `with`, >>>> you end up with this weird dichotomy with the `<-` operator, where >>>> sometimes it means a filtering match, and other times where it means >>>> strict >>>> match. That kind of syntactical inconsistency in a language feels like a >>>> bad precedent to set, despite what feels like a reasonable compromise. >>>> It’s >>>> also notable to me that there are easy ways to program defensively to >>>> force >>>> match errors if you want them, within the current syntax, but obviously >>>> that comes at the cost of more verbosity. >>>> >>>> I’m not sure what the right answer is, but this feels to me like >>>> rushing to solve a specific problem without spending enough time >>>> considering how it meshes with the rest of the language in terms of >>>> cognitive complexity, particularly for those new to the language. >>>> >>>> Anyway, that’s my two cents. I’m a fan of the concept for sure, but >>>> would almost prefer to see the semantics changed in a major version bump, >>>> to match `with`, even if that meant manually updating a bunch of my code, >>>> because at least it keeps the language self consistent. I’ll admit I’m >>>> probably an outlier on that though. >>>> >>>> Paul >>>> >>>> On Thu, Jun 10, 2021, at 6:16 PM, Christopher Keele wrote: >>>> >>>> That's fair enough! Though from my perspective both for! and strict: >>>> true would be about equally far from the <- where matches fail. But I >>>> can see the keyword format getting lost in the filters and other keywords. >>>> >>>> On Thu, Jun 10, 2021 at 3:14 PM José Valim <jose....@dashbit.co> wrote: >>>> >>>> Sorry, I meant to someone reading the code. The strict option is >>>> modifying the behavior of the operator <-, which may be quite before it in >>>> the text. >>>> >>>> I prefer for! in this case as it is upfront. >>>> >>>> On Fri, Jun 11, 2021 at 00:09 Christopher Keele <christ...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> > My concern with :strict is that it changes the behavior considerably >>>> of the generators but it may show up only quite later on, far from them, >>>> especially if you have multiple filters. >>>> >>>> Could you elaborate? I don't quite think I understand, particularly *"[the >>>> behaviour] may show up only quite later on"* >>>> >>>> Does "quite later" here refer to code distance (the MatchError's >>>> stacktrace would point away from/bury the for location)? Or temporal >>>> distance? >>>> >>>> On Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 2:58:03 PM UTC-7 José Valim wrote: >>>> >>>> My concern with :strict is that it changes the behavior considerably of >>>> the generators but it may show up only quite later on, far from them, >>>> especially if you have multiple filters. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Jun 10, 2021 at 23:56 Christopher Keele <christ...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> > for {:ok, num} <- list, strict: true, do: num >>>> >>>> Agreed, this is more or less exactly what I was pitching. >>>> On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 10:16:25 PM UTC-7 tal...@gmail.com wrote: >>>> >>>> I would like to add a solution within the existing language: >>>> >>>> >>>> ```elixir >>>> >>>> > list = [{:ok, 1}, {:ok, 2}, {:error, :fail}, {:ok, 4}] >>>> > for el <- list, do: ({:ok, num} = el; num) >>>> ** (MatchError) no match of right hand side value: {:error, :fail} >>>> ``` >>>> I think this is reasonable. >>>> >>>> Acctually the built in filtering in `for` caught me off guard, I was >>>> expecting for to fail unless all elements matched. So for me the better >>>> solution would be to always make matching in `for` strict. But I guess >>>> this >>>> is too late now for backwards compatibility. Another alternative to `for!` >>>> would be: >>>> >>>> ```elixir >>>> >>>> > list = [{:ok, 1}, {:ok, 2}, {:error, :fail}, {:ok, 4}] >>>> > for {:ok, num} <- list, strict: true, do: num >>>> ** (MatchError) no match of right hand side value: {:error, :fail} >>>> ``` >>>> >>>> I don't like the use of the exclamation mark in `for!` because it has >>>> little meaning relative to the existing use of the exclamation mark in >>>> Elixir. >>>> >>>> onsdag 9. juni 2021 kl. 13:17:04 UTC+2 skrev ad...@a-corp.co.uk: >>>> >>>> I also love the proposal. >>>> >>>> It's a shame we can't re-use the `with` semantics of `=` raising a >>>> match error in the for. >>>> >>>> My two cents is `for!` makes the most sense, and follows the >>>> conventions of other functions. >>>> >>>> Best >>>> >>>> Adam >>>> >>>> >>>> On 8 Jun 2021, at 18:18, Christopher Keele <christ...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> This feature would be very useful, I've experience this >>>> signature-change pain point before too (and kind of have been avoiding >>>> `for` ever since, TBH). >>>> >>>> I'm reluctant to increase the surface area of the language itself, what >>>> do you think about adding a `:strict` option to `for` instead of a new >>>> special form/kernel macro/operator? >>>> On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 9:50:45 AM UTC-7 eric.meado...@gmail.com >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>> ## Background >>>> >>>> `for` comprehensions are one of the most powerful features in Elixir. >>>> It supports both enumerable and bitstring generators, filters through >>>> boolean expressions and pattern matching, collectibles with `:into` and >>>> folding with `:reduce`. >>>> >>>> One of the features are automatic filtering by patterns in generators: >>>> >>>> ```elixir >>>> list = [{:ok, 1}, {:ok, 2}, {:error, :fail}, {:ok, 4}] >>>> for {:ok, num} <- list, do: num >>>> #=> [1, 2, 4] >>>> ``` >>>> >>>> Generator filtering is very powerful because it allows you to >>>> succinctly filter out data that is not relevant to the comprehension in >>>> the >>>> same expression that you are generating elements out of your >>>> enumerable/bitstrings. But the implicit filtering can be dangerous because >>>> changes in the shape of the data will silently be removed which can cause >>>> hard to catch bugs. >>>> >>>> The following example can show how this can be an issue when testing >>>> `Posts.create/0`. If a change causes the function to start returning >>>> `{:ok, >>>> %Post{}}` instead of the expected `%Post{}` the test will pass even though >>>> we have a bug. >>>> >>>> ```elixir >>>> test "create posts" do >>>> posts = Posts.create() >>>> for %Post{id: id} <- posts, do: assert is_integer(id) >>>> end >>>> ``` >>>> >>>> The example uses a test to highlight the issue but it can just as well >>>> happen in production code, specially when refactoring in other parts of >>>> the >>>> code base than the comprehension. >>>> >>>> Elixir is a dynamically typed language but dynamic typing errors are >>>> less of an issue compared to many other dynamic languages because we are >>>> usual strict in the data we accept by using pattern matching and guard >>>> functions. `for` is by design not strict on the shape of data it accepts >>>> and therefor loses the nice property of early failure on incorrect data. >>>> >>>> ## Proposal >>>> >>>> I propose an alternative comprehension macro called `for!` that has the >>>> same functionality as `for` but instead of filtering on patterns in >>>> generators it will raise a `MatchError`. >>>> >>>> ```elixir >>>> posts = [{:ok, %Post{}}] >>>> for! %Post{id: id} <- posts, do: assert is_integer(id) >>>> #=> ** (MatchError) no match of right hand side value: {:ok, %Post{}} >>>> ``` >>>> >>>> Pattern matching when not generating values with `=` remains unchanged. >>>> >>>> `for!` gives the developer an option to be strict on the data it >>>> accepts instead of silently ignoring data that does not match. >>>> >>>> ## Other considerations >>>> >>>> You can get strict matching with `for` today by first assigning to a >>>> variable. This way you can also mix filtering and strict matching patterns. >>>> >>>> ```elixir >>>> posts = [{:ok, %Post{}}] >>>> for post <- posts, >>>> %Post{id: id} = post, >>>> do: assert is_integer(id) >>>> #=> ** (MatchError) no match of right hand side value: {:ok, %Post{}} >>>> ``` >>>> >>>> Another alternative is to introduce a new operator such as `<<-` (the >>>> actual token can be anything, `<<-` is only used as an example) for >>>> raising >>>> pattern matches instead of introducing a completely new macro. >>>> >>>> ```elixir >>>> posts = [{:ok, %Post{}}] >>>> for %Post{id: id} <<- posts, do: assert is_integer(id) >>>> #=> ** (MatchError) no match of right hand side value: {:ok, %Post{}} >>>> ``` >>>> >>>> A downside of adding new functions or macros is that it doesn't compose >>>> as well compared to adding options (or operators) to existing functions. >>>> If >>>> we want to add another variant of comprehensions in the future we might be >>>> in the position that we need 4 macros, and then 8 and so on. >>>> >>>> Another benefit of adding an operator is that you can mix both `<-` and >>>> `<<-` in a single comprehension. >>>> >>>> The downside of an operator is that it adds more complexity for the >>>> language user. 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