141 lines
4.3 KiB
Racket
141 lines
4.3 KiB
Racket
#lang scribble/doc
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@(require scribble/manual
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scribble/eval
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"guide-utils.ss")
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@title[#:tag "application"]{Function Calls@aux-elem{ (Procedure Applications)}}
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An expression of the form
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@specsubform[
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(proc-expr arg-expr ...)
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]
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is a function call---also known as a @defterm{procedure
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application}---when @scheme[_proc-expr] is not an identifier that is
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bound as a syntax transformer (such as @scheme[if] or
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@scheme[define]).
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@section{Evaluation Order and Arity}
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A function call is evaluated by first evaluating the
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@scheme[_proc-expr] and all @scheme[_arg-expr]s in order (left to
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right). Then, if @scheme[_proc-expr] produces a function that accepts
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as many arguments as supplied @scheme[_arg-expr]s, the function is
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called. Otherwise, an exception is raised.
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@examples[
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(cons 1 null)
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(+ 1 2 3)
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(cons 1 2 3)
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(1 2 3)
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]
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Some functions, such as @scheme[cons], accept a fixed number of
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arguments. Some functions, such as @scheme[+] or @scheme[list], accept
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any number of arguments. Some functions accept a range of argument
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counts; for example @scheme[substring] accepts either two or three
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arguments. A function's @idefterm{arity} is the number of arguments
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that it accepts.
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@;------------------------------------------------------------------------
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@section[#:tag "keyword-args"]{Keyword Arguments}
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Some functions accept @defterm{keyword arguments} in addition to
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by-position arguments. For that case, an @scheme[_arg] can be an
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@scheme[_arg-keyword _arg-expr] sequence instead of just a
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@scheme[_arg-expr]:
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@guideother{@secref["keywords"] introduces keywords.}
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@specform/subs[
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(_proc-expr arg ...)
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([arg arg-expr
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(code:line arg-keyword arg-expr)])
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]
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For example,
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@schemeblock[(go "super.ss" #:mode 'fast)]
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calls the function bound to @scheme[go] with @scheme["super.ss"] as a
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by-position argument, and with @scheme['fast] as an argument
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associated with the @scheme[#:mode] keyword. A keyword is implicitly
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paired with the expression that follows it.
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Since a keyword by itself is not an expression, then
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@schemeblock[(go "super.ss" #:mode #:fast)]
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is a syntax error. The @scheme[#:mode] keyword must be followed by an
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expression to produce an argument value, and @scheme[#:fast] is not an
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expression.
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The order of keyword @scheme[_arg]s determines the order in which
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@scheme[_arg-expr]s are evaluated, but a function accepts keyword
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arguments independent of their position in the argument list. The
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above call to @scheme[go] can be equivalently written
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@schemeblock[(go #:mode 'fast "super.ss")]
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@refdetails["application"]{procedure applications}
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@;------------------------------------------------------------------------
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@section[#:tag "apply"]{The @scheme[apply] Function}
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The syntax for function calls supports any number of arguments, but a
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specific call always specifies a fixed number of arguments. As a
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result, a function that takes a list of arguments cannot directly
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apply a function like @scheme[+] to all of the items in the list:
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@def+int[
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(define (avg lst) (code:comment #, @elem{doesn't work...})
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(/ (+ lst) (length lst)))
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(avg '(1 2 3))
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]
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@def+int[
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(define (avg lst) (code:comment #, @elem{doesn't always work...})
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(/ (+ (list-ref lst 0) (list-ref lst 1) (list-ref lst 2))
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(length lst)))
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(avg '(1 2 3))
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(avg '(1 2))
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]
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The @scheme[apply] function offers a way around this restriction. It
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takes a function and a @italic{list} arguments, and it applies the
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function to the arguments:
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@def+int[
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(define (avg lst)
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(/ (apply + lst) (length lst)))
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(avg '(1 2 3))
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(avg '(1 2))
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(avg '(1 2 3 4))
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]
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As a convenience, the @scheme[apply] function accepts additional
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arguments between the function and the list. The additional arguments
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are effectively @scheme[cons]ed onto the argument list:
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@def+int[
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(define (anti-sum lst)
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(apply - 0 lst))
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(anti-sum '(1 2 3))
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]
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The @scheme[apply] function supports only by-position arguments. To
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apply a function with keyword arguments, use the
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@scheme[keyword-apply] function, which accepts a function to apply
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and three lists. The first two lists are in parallel, where the first
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list contains keywords (sorted by @scheme[keyword<]), and the second
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list contains a corresponding argument for each keyword. The third
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list contains by-position function arguments, as for @scheme[apply].
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@schemeblock[
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(keyword-apply go
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'(#:mode)
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'(fast)
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'("super.ss"))
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]
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