If I write the following F# code, the compiler issues an error.
let a = 123
let a = 123
The error produced is:
error FS0037: Duplicate definition of value 'a'
If I write the same code in a function like this:
let fctn =
let a =123
let a =123
a
it doesn't produce any error.
I don't understand the difference. Can anyone please explain?
Edit : first code I write in module level.
I agree this is confusing. The problem is that let behaves differently when it is used as a local variable (within a function) and when it is used as a global definition (within a module).
Global definitions (in a module) are compiled as static members of a static class and so a name can be used only once. This means that top-level use of:
let a = 10
let a = 11
... is an error, because F# would have to produce two static members of the same name.
Local definitions (inside a function or some other nested scope) are compiled to Common IL and the variable name essentially disappears (the IL uses the stack instead). In this case, F# allows you to shadow variables, that is, you can hide a previous variable by re-using an existing name. This can be inside a function, or even just a do block inside a module, type or other function:
do
let a = 10
let a = 11
()
This is a bit confusing, because variable shadowing only works inside local scopes but not at the top level. It makes sense when you know how things are compiled though.
As an aside, while IL allows overloads of members by the same name, such overloads cannot be defined at module level in F#. Instead, you'd need to define them specifically as static member on a class (type in F#).
on scope and shadowing
as CaringDev mentioned (but not explained) you will probably see what the shadowing is about when you make the scope a bit more obvious (using the let ... in ... construct #light let you shorten a bit - but you still can use it even without #light off)
Try this:
> let a = 233 in let a = 555 in a;;
val it : int = 555
as you can see the expression evaluates to the shadowed value of a - but the original is not lost:
> let a = 233 in (let a = 555 in a), a;;
val it : int * int = (555, 233)
it's just not in scope in the inner let ... in ...
btw: you can rewrite your example to:
let fctn =
let a = 123 in
(let a =123 in a)
(I added the parentheses just to make this more obvious)
the other on the module level really defines a value for the scope of the module and is not really an expression but a definition
The first snippet defines two public values with the same name.
The second hides (shadows) a value.
With the first you would have externally visible change of state (a behaves like mutable) whereas with the second you can't (you have two as in different scopes).
If you write your statements in #light off ML syntax it becomes obvious immediately.
Related
A simplified example that gives an error because let str is private:
let launch = printfn "%s"
type Test() =
let str = "Hello"
member inline t.A() =
launch str
I've discovered statically resolved type parameters in F# and after a rewrite have a neural net library where 95% of the functions are inlined as a result, including class methods. I wrote it as a F# script at first, forgetting that there is a difference between script mode and compiled mode in their treatment of inlined methods.
let test = // Is this the only choice?
let str = "Hello"
fun () ->
launch str
Is there any way to use body initializers in F# classes or should I rewrite the classes to be higher order functions like the above? Thankfully, that would not be a problem here.
This question is related to this one, but I thought I'd ask again since it has been 5 years.
Actually I was wrong. It is true that the higher order function example does work in the simplified case above, but I've realized that lambda arguments cannot be statically resolved. I thought of using records for a bit and then tried this:
type Test() =
let str = "Hello"
member t.Str = str
member inline t.A() =
launch t.Str
Private member can be exposed and this will compile. Doing it like the above would be satisfactory.
rvm is an object, not a function.
Why does the constraint (^b:(member ReportSubTitle:(String -> unit)) rvm ) come up as a getter instead of a setter? Is this a Tooltip issue or something else?
Everywhere else where I've made use of statically typed generics, I find I don't even have to tell it the type at all. This doesn't work either:
// Setup the sub title with the total
let subTitleSetter = (^b:(member ReportSubTitle:_) rvm )
subTitleSetter ("Total: " + total.ToString("C") )
Moved this attempt into a function and tried what #kvb suggested
This is the only use whatsoever of rvm in the enclosing scope/method
I'm not entirely sure what is the correct way for calling setters via static member constraints. I always find the feature a bit rough around the edges and prefer to use other options when possible (i.e. define an interface and access members via the interface).
That said, it looks like you can use set_PropertyName in the constraint. The following small example works fine for me:
type A() =
member val Foo = 0 with get, set
let a = A()
let setter v = (^b:(member set_Foo : int -> unit) (a, v) )
setter 42
a.Foo
So I have been doing research on interfaces on F#. I have found these 2 articles on it. The MSDN and F# for fun and profit But unfortunately they are only skin deep.
UPDATED
here is my module with my interfaces
//open statements omitted for brevity
module DrawingInterfaces =
///gets a string representation of the SVG code representation of the object
type IRepresentable_SVG =
abstract member getSVGRepresenation : unit -> string
//other interfaces omitted for brevity
Now within the same namespace and physical folder also I have this:
type lineSet (x1off,x2off,y1off,y2off,x1,x2,y1,y2,rot,rotOff,count) =
//tons of member vals omitted for brevity
member val x1Start = x1 with get, set
interface DrawingInterfaces.IRepresentable_SVG with
member __.getSVGRepresenation() =
let mutable svg = ""
let mutable currentx1 = x1Start
svg
This used to give me 2 errors, before I was using the __. notation for the member. The first error was on the interface line. And a second on the member line.
The errors were respectively:
The type 'IRepresentable_SVG' is not defined
This instance member needs a parameter to represent the object being invoked.
I was able to fix the first one by changing the file order. Thanks to John Palmer.
The second one is nearly fixed./
After using the __ . notation I was able to get rid of the second error. However, now a new error pops up when I try to use type members in my interface implementation.
let mutable currentx1 = x1Start
x1Start shows as not being defined. I need to be able to use values stored in my other members within my implementation.
Let's first make it work and then point to your problems. I define below 2 separate modules in 2 separate .fs files within the same namespace Example for interface definition in module Example.DrawingInterfacesand interface implementation in module Example.UseInterface and also a console app that will use the interface from third (implicit) module Program. In my project correspondent code files are in the following order: DefInterface.fs, UseInterface,fs, Program.fs (I also made few idiomatic styling changes and more brevity omissions)
File: DefInterface.fs
namespace Example
module DrawingInterfaces =
type IRepresentable_SVG =
abstract member GetSVGRepresenation : unit -> string
File: UseInterface.fs
namespace Example
module UseInterface =
type LineSet (x1) =
member val X1Start = x1 with get, set
interface DrawingInterfaces.IRepresentable_SVG with
member __.GetSVGRepresenation() = "test" + " " + __.X1Start.ToString()
File: Program.fs
open Example
open System
[<EntryPoint>]
let main argv =
let lineSet = UseInterface.LineSet(5)
let example : DrawingInterfaces.IRepresentable_SVG = lineSet :> _
example.GetSVGRepresenation() |> printfn "%A"
lineSet.X1Start <- 10
example.GetSVGRepresenation() |> printfn "%A"
0
Compile, run and make sure it works.
Now to problems in your code:
first error message stems from the need to refer to the full implemented interface name in UseInterface.fs, which is Example.DrawingInterfaces.IRepresentable_SVG although as both modules belong to the same namespace the Example prefix may be omitted
second error message points to the need of using instance method in implementation class UseInterface.LineSet, which is achieved by prepending self-identifier __. to the method signature
Finally, notice the usage of your interface in Program.fs that imports namespace, provides module names for definition and implementation respectively, and also explicitly casts implementation LineSet to IRepresentable_SVG.
EDIT: I've added X1Start property to the original LineSet to show how it can be used from interface implementation per question author's request. Now self-id __. is more involved and probably using self. or even this. instead would make more sense.
I'm a hobbyist programmer (cook by trade) that's currently trying to teach myself F# and functional programming in general.
Anyway, I was fooling around with DeflateStream and wrote the following two functions:
let Compress compressMe =
let ds = new DeflateStream(File.Create("compressed.txt"), CompressionMode.Compress)
File.OpenRead(compressMe).CopyTo(ds)
ds.Close()
let Decompress =
let ds = new DeflateStream(File.OpenRead("compressed.txt"), CompressionMode.Decompress)
ds.CopyTo(File.Create("decompressed.txt"))
ds.Close()
In the body of the main function they are called one right after the other like this:
Compress args.[0]
Decompress
However, if compressed.txt doesn't exist when the program is run Decompress throws a FileNotFoundException which is surprising because the only thing that could throw this is the call to File.OpenRead("compress.txt"). After about an hour I figured out that Decompress was implementing IComparable and was being executed before the call to it in the main function. I found that by changing its definition to let Decompress () = [...] it no longer implemented IComparable and my code executed as it was intended to. Can anyone tell me why F# was infering IComparable and why such and inference would cause the function to execute before the main function marked with [<EntryPoint>]? Also, please forgive the imperitive style of my code, I'm incredibly new at this.
Thanks in adavance.
I'm not entirely sure about the IComparable bit, but the issue you have is that without the parentheses, the compiler is treating Decompress as a value not a function. This would be similar to if you had written.
let compressedName = "compressed.txt"
in that case, compressedName is now a value. Adding the parentheses tells the compiler that this is a function whose code must be called each time the function is rather than a value initialized once (before the entry point) by the code you wrote.
When you write something like
let value =
//some long calculation
[<Entrypoint>]
let main args = ...
The compiler executes the long calculation before main. This is because you probably use the value later in your code. To suppress this, as you found, you need to use let value() = ....
I am not sure where Icomparable is coming from, but this is the key to what is happening.
Note, if you write
let a = ...
let b = ...
The compiler will gurantee a is calculated before b executes.
As others have pointed out, the absence of parentheses in the declaration is significant.
let Decompres = ...
declares a variable of type unit. This type is used to represent "data" (even if this data doesn't encode much information), and it implements IComparable like any other data-oriented type.
let Decompress() = ...
declares a function, and functions in F# are not comparable, probably because there is no universally accepted notion of equality on functions.
I can't see that the "IComparable-ness" of Decompress had anything to do with the exception you got.
i have got several times , trying to implement different functions, the message you see as title. I would like to know if anyone can tell me the general meaning (and reason) of this error message. As i mentioned before, i have got the problem several times and manage to fix it, but still didnt get the exact reason, so i will not post any specific code.
Thank you in advance
The most common case when you may get this error is when you write let binding that is not followed by an expression that calculates the result. In F#, everything is an expression that returns some result, so if you write let a = 10 it is generally not a valid expression. To make it valid, you need to return something:
let foo () =
let a = 10
() // return unit value (which doesn't represent any information)
The only exception where you can write just let a = 10 is a global scope of an F# source file - for example, inside a module declaration or in an F# script file. (This is why the declaration of foo above is valid).
It is difficult to give any advice without seeing your code, but you probably have a let declaration that is not followed by an F# expression.
Out of curiosity, the following example shows that let can really be used inside an expression (where it must return some meaningful result):
let a = 40 + (let a = 1
a + a)