Another way of encoding type identity for BuckleScript libraries without using big functor
Note this article is for library authors, it has something in depth which is not necessary for people who use BuckleScript at daily work.
When we build some generic data structure, abstract over function is not enough. For example, a type safe generic balanced AVL tree not only relies on the types of a comparison function, but also the identity of such function. Two balanced AVL trees which are initialized over same type of comparison function still can not be mixed.
REmodule Eq1 = {
let eq = (x, y) => x == y;
};
module Eq2 = {
let eq = (x, y) => x == y;
};
Take the two modules above for example, they have the same type, but we need a way to mark their identity so that data structures instantiated using them can not be mixed.
A traditional way is using functor:
REmodule Make = (
Cmp: {
type t;
let eq: (t, t) => bool;
}) : {
type key = Cmp.t;
type coll;
let empty: coll;
let add: (coll, key) => coll;
} => {
open Cmp;
type key = t;
type coll = list(key);
let empty = [];
let add = (y: coll, e: key) =>
if (List.exists(x => eq(x, e), y)) {
y;
} else {
[e, ...y];
};
};
module Ins1 = Make({
type t = int;
let eq = (x, y) => x == y;
});
module Ins2 = Make({
type t = int;
let eq = (x, y) => x * x == y * y;
});
By marking coll
as abstract type, when such functor is
initialized,Ins1.coll
and Ins2.coll
are no longer the same.
RElet v = [Ins1.empty, Ins2.empty];
When mixing them together, we get a type error
File ..., line 31, characters 21-31: Error: This expression has type Ins2.coll but an expression was expected of type Ins1.coll
There are some issues with such encoding:
From runtime point of view,
Ins1
is initialized during runtime, its implementation is a big closure, which means even if you only use on function inIns1
module, all functions will be linked in.From user point of view, people has to call
Ins1.add
andIns2.add
instead of callingIns.add
, this makes code less polymorphic.
Now we introduce another encoding, note it is quite sophiscated that is recommended only for library authors
REmodule Cmp: {
type cmp('a, 'id);
let eq: (cmp('a, 'id), 'a, 'a) => bool;
module Make: (
M: {
type t;
let eq: (t, t) => bool;
}
) => {
type identity;
let eq: cmp(M.t, identity);
};
} = {
type cmp('a, 'id) = ('a, 'a) => bool;
module Make = (
M: {
type t;
let eq: (t, t) => bool;
}
) => {
type identity;
include M;
};
let eq = (cmp, x, y) => cmp(x, y); /* This could be inlined by using externals */
};
open Cmp;
module Coll: {
type coll('k, 'id);
let empty: cmp('k, 'id) => coll('k, 'id);
let add: (coll('k, 'id), 'k) => coll('k, 'id);
} = {
type coll('k, 'id) = {
eq: cmp('k, 'id),
data: list('k),
};
let empty = (type t, type identity, eq: cmp(t, identity)) => {
data: [],
eq,
};
let add = (x: coll('k, 'id), y: 'k) =>
if (List.exists(a => Cmp.eq(x.eq, a, y), x.data)) {
x;
} else {
{
data: [y, ...x.data],
eq: x.eq,
};
};
};
The key is the construction of Cmp modules, we create an abstract type cmp
which is signed by a phantom type as its identity, it is unique whenever user
create it by calling Make
functor. Here we are still using functor, but it is
small functor.
The usage is as below:
REmodule S0 = Make({
type t = int;
let eq = (x, y) => x == y;
});
module S1 = Make({
type t = int;
let eq = (x, y) => x * x == y * y;
});
let v0 = Coll.empty(S0.eq);
let v1 = Coll.empty(S1.eq);
let a0 = Coll.add(v0, 1);
let a1 = Coll.add(v1, 1);
In practice, we can make use of first class modules to get rid of functors from end users, which is saved for readers.
When we mix a0
and a1
, we will get a type error
File ..., line 71, characters 13-15: Error: This expression has type (int, S1.identity) Coll.coll but an expression was expected of type (int, S0.identity) Coll.coll Type S1.identity is not compatible with type S0.identity
As you read here, by using such encoding, the data structure is more generalized from user point of view. The generated JS code is not in a big closure so that it can be dead code eliminated better.
This style is extensively used in Belt encoding, we encourage you to have a look at its implementation for better ideas.