Can you supply arguments to the map(&:method) syntax in Ruby?
RubyRuby Problem Overview
You're probably familiar with the following Ruby shorthand (a
is an array):
a.map(&:method)
For example, try the following in irb:
>> a=[:a, 'a', 1, 1.0]
=> [:a, "a", 1, 1.0]
>> a.map(&:class)
=> [Symbol, String, Fixnum, Float]
The syntax a.map(&:class)
is a shorthand for a.map {|x| x.class}
.
Read more about this syntax in "https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1217088/what-does-mapname-mean-in-ruby";.
Through the syntax &:class
, you're making a method call class
for each array element.
My question is: can you supply arguments to the method call? And if so, how?
For example, how do you convert the following syntax
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.map {|x| x + 2}
to the &:
syntax?
I'm not suggesting that the &:
syntax is better.
I'm merely interested in the mechanics of using the &:
syntax with arguments.
I assume you know that +
is a method on Integer class. You can try the following in irb:
>> a=1
=> 1
>> a+(1)
=> 2
>> a.send(:+, 1)
=> 2
Ruby Solutions
Solution 1 - Ruby
You can create a simple patch on Symbol
like this:
class Symbol
def with(*args, &block)
->(caller, *rest) { caller.send(self, *rest, *args, &block) }
end
end
Which will enable you to do not only this:
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.map(&:+.with(2))
# => [3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
But also a lot of other cool stuff, like passing multiple parameters:
arr = ["abc", "babc", "great", "fruit"]
arr.map(&:center.with(20, '*'))
# => ["********abc*********", "********babc********", "*******great********", "*******fruit********"]
arr.map(&:[].with(1, 3))
# => ["bc", "abc", "rea", "rui"]
arr.map(&:[].with(/a(.*)/))
# => ["abc", "abc", "at", nil]
arr.map(&:[].with(/a(.*)/, 1))
# => ["bc", "bc", "t", nil]
And even work with inject
, which passes two arguments to the block:
%w(abecd ab cd).inject(&:gsub.with('cde'))
# => "cdeeecde"
Or something super cool as passing [shorthand] blocks to the shorthand block:
[['0', '1'], ['2', '3']].map(&:map.with(&:to_i))
# => [[0, 1], [2, 3]]
[%w(a b), %w(c d)].map(&:inject.with(&:+))
# => ["ab", "cd"]
[(1..5), (6..10)].map(&:map.with(&:*.with(2)))
# => [[2, 4, 6, 8, 10], [12, 14, 16, 18, 20]]
Here is a conversation I had with @ArupRakshit explaining it further:
Can you supply arguments to the map(&:method) syntax in Ruby?
As @amcaplan suggested in the comment below, you could create a shorter syntax, if you rename the with
method to call
. In this case, ruby has a built in shortcut for this special method .()
.
So you could use the above like this:
class Symbol
def call(*args, &block)
->(caller, *rest) { caller.send(self, *rest, *args, &block) }
end
end
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.map(&:+.(2))
# => [3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
[(1..5), (6..10)].map(&:map.(&:*.(2)))
# => [[2, 4, 6, 8, 10], [12, 14, 16, 18, 20]]
Here is a version using Refinements (which is less hacky than globally monkey patching Symbol
):
module AmpWithArguments
refine Symbol do
def call(*args, &block)
->(caller, *rest) { caller.send(self, *rest, *args, &block) }
end
end
end
using AmpWithArguments
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.map(&:+.(2))
# => [3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
[(1..5), (6..10)].map(&:map.(&:*.(2)))
# => [[2, 4, 6, 8, 10], [12, 14, 16, 18, 20]]
Solution 2 - Ruby
For your example can be done a.map(&2.method(:+))
.
Arup-iMac:$ pry
[1] pry(main)> a = [1,3,5,7,9]
=> [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]
[2] pry(main)> a.map(&2.method(:+))
=> [3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
[3] pry(main)>
Here is how it works :-
[3] pry(main)> 2.method(:+)
=> #<Method: Fixnum#+>
[4] pry(main)> 2.method(:+).to_proc
=> #<Proc:0x000001030cb990 (lambda)>
[5] pry(main)> 2.method(:+).to_proc.call(1)
=> 3
2.method(:+)
gives a Method
object. Then &
, on 2.method(:+)
, actually a call #to_proc
method, which is making it a Proc
object. Then follow What do you call the &: operator in Ruby?.
Solution 3 - Ruby
As the post you linked to confirms, a.map(&:class)
is not a shorthand for a.map {|x| x.class}
but for a.map(&:class.to_proc)
.
This means that to_proc
is called on whatever follows the &
operator.
So you could give it directly a Proc
instead:
a.map(&(Proc.new {|x| x+2}))
I know that most probably this defeats the purpose of your question but I can't see any other way around it - it's not that you specify which method to be called, you just pass it something that responds to to_proc
.
Solution 4 - Ruby
There is another native option for enumerables which is pretty only for two arguments in my opinion. the class Enumerable
has the method with_object
which then returns another Enumerable
.
So you can call the &
operator for a method with each item and the object as arguments.
Example:
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.to_enum.with_object(2).map(&:+) # => [3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
In the case you want more arguments you should repeat the proccess but it's ugly in my opinion:
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.to_enum.with_object(2).map(&:+).to_enum.with_object(5).map(&:+) # => [8, 10, 12, 14, 16]
Solution 5 - Ruby
Short answer: No.
Following @rkon's answer, you could also do this:
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.map &->(_) { _ + 2 } # => [3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
Solution 6 - Ruby
if all your method needs as argument is an element from the array, this is probably the simplest way to do it:
def double(x)
x * 2
end
[1, 2, 3].map(&method(:double))
=> [2, 4, 6]
Solution 7 - Ruby
Instead of patching core classes yourself, as in the accepted answer, it's shorter and cleaner to use the functionality of the Facets gem:
require 'facets'
a = [1,3,5,7,9]
a.map &:+.(2)
Solution 8 - Ruby
I'm not sure about the Symbol#with
already posted, I simplified it quite a bit and it works well:
class Symbol
def with(*args, &block)
lambda { |object| object.public_send(self, *args, &block) }
end
end
(also uses public_send
instead of send
to prevent calling private methods, also caller
is already used by ruby so this was confusing)
Solution 9 - Ruby
I'm surprised no one mentioned using curry
yet, which has been in Ruby since Ruby 2.2.9. Here's how it can be done in the way OP wants using the standard Ruby library:
[1,3,5,7,9].map(&:+.to_proc.curry(2).call(11))
# => [12, 14, 16, 18, 20]
You need to supply an arity to curry
that matches the call, though. This is because the interpreter doesn't know which object the +
method refers to yet. This also means you can only use this when all the objects in map
have the same arity. But that's probably not an issue if you're trying to use it this way.