Return value in F# - incomplete construct - f#

I've trying to learn F#. I'm a complete beginner, so this might be a walkover for you guys :)
I have the following function:
let removeEven l =
let n = List.length l;
let list_ = [];
let seq_ = seq { for x in 1..n do if x % 2 <> 0 then yield List.nth l (x-1)}
for x in seq_ do
let list_ = list_ # [x];
list_;
It takes a list, and return a new list containing all the numbers, which is placed at an odd index in the original list, so removeEven [x1;x2;x3] = [x1;x3]
However, I get my already favourite error-message: Incomplete construct at or before this point in expression...
If I add a print to the end of the line, instead of list_:
...
print_any list_;
the problem is fixed. But I do not want to print the list, I want to return it!
What causes this? Why can't I return my list?

To answer your question first, the compiler complains because there is a problem inside the for loop. In F#, let serves to declare values (that are immutable and cannot be changed later in the program). It isn't a statement as in C# - let can be only used as part of another expression. For example:
let n = 10
n + n
Actually means that you want the n symbol to refer to the value 10 in the expression n + n. The problem with your code is that you're using let without any expression (probably because you want to use mutable variables):
for x in seq_ do
let list_ = list_ # [x] // This isn't assignment!
list_
The problematic line is an incomplete expression - using let in this way isn't allowed, because it doesn't contain any expression (the list_ value will not be accessed from any code). You can use mutable variable to correct your code:
let mutable list_ = [] // declared as 'mutable'
let seq_ = seq { for x in 1..n do if x % 2 <> 0 then yield List.nth l (x-1)}
for x in seq_ do
list_ <- list_ # [x] // assignment using '<-'
Now, this should work, but it isn't really functional, because you're using imperative mutation. Moreover, appending elements using # is really inefficient thing to do in functional languages. So, if you want to make your code functional, you'll probably need to use different approach. Both of the other answers show a great approach, although I prefer the example by Joel, because indexing into a list (in the solution by Chaos) also isn't very functional (there is no pointer arithmetic, so it will be also slower).
Probably the most classical functional solution would be to use the List.fold function, which aggregates all elements of the list into a single result, walking from the left to the right:
[1;2;3;4;5]
|> List.fold (fun (flag, res) el ->
if flag then (not flag, el::res) else (not flag, res)) (true, [])
|> snd |> List.rev
Here, the state used during the aggregation is a Boolean flag specifying whether to include the next element (during each step, we flip the flag by returning not flag). The second element is the list aggregated so far (we add element by el::res only when the flag is set. After fold returns, we use snd to get the second element of the tuple (the aggregated list) and reverse it using List.rev, because it was collected in the reversed order (this is more efficient than appending to the end using res#[el]).

Edit: If I understand your requirements correctly, here's a version of your function done functional rather than imperative style, that removes elements with odd indexes.
let removeEven list =
list
|> Seq.mapi (fun i x -> (i, x))
|> Seq.filter (fun (i, x) -> i % 2 = 0)
|> Seq.map snd
|> List.ofSeq
> removeEven ['a'; 'b'; 'c'; 'd'];;
val it : char list = ['a'; 'c']

I think this is what you are looking for.
let removeEven list =
let maxIndex = (List.length list) - 1;
seq { for i in 0..2..maxIndex -> list.[i] }
|> Seq.toList
Tests
val removeEven : 'a list -> 'a list
> removeEven [1;2;3;4;5;6];;
val it : int list = [1; 3; 5]
> removeEven [1;2;3;4;5];;
val it : int list = [1; 3; 5]
> removeEven [1;2;3;4];;
val it : int list = [1; 3]
> removeEven [1;2;3];;
val it : int list = [1; 3]
> removeEven [1;2];;
val it : int list = [1]
> removeEven [1];;
val it : int list = [1]

You can try a pattern-matching approach. I haven't used F# in a while and I can't test things right now, but it would be something like this:
let rec curse sofar ls =
match ls with
| even :: odd :: tl -> curse (even :: sofar) tl
| even :: [] -> curse (even :: sofar) []
| [] -> List.rev sofar
curse [] [ 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 ]
This recursively picks off the even elements. I think. I would probably use Joel Mueller's approach though. I don't remember if there is an index-based filter function, but that would probably be the ideal to use, or to make if it doesn't exist in the libraries.
But in general lists aren't really meant as index-type things. That's what arrays are for. If you consider what kind of algorithm would require a list having its even elements removed, maybe it's possible that in the steps prior to this requirement, the elements can be paired up in tuples, like this:
[ (1,2); (3,4) ]
That would make it trivial to get the even-"indexed" elements out:
thelist |> List.map fst // take first element from each tuple
There's a variety of options if the input list isn't guaranteed to have an even number of elements.

Yet another alternative, which (by my reckoning) is slightly slower than Joel's, but it's shorter :)
let removeEven list =
list
|> Seq.mapi (fun i x -> (i, x))
|> Seq.choose (fun (i,x) -> if i % 2 = 0 then Some(x) else None)
|> List.ofSeq

Related

Remove same values from two lists and compare them using List.fold in F#

I am trying to create a function that takes two lists that removes values in one list that are also in the other. E.g if we have the lists [1;2;3] and [1;2;3;4] then the first list becomes empty []
and the second list is just [4]. At the end I just when to compare both lists.
I am trying to use List.fold for this since I want to understand it better. Also I created my own folder function that deletes elements from a list.
I am very new to F# so I only came up with a partial solution
let rec delete x list =
match list with
| [] -> []
| hd:: tl when hd = x -> tl
| hd:: tl-> hd:: delete x tl
let myFunc list1 list2 =
let x = list1 |> List.fold(delete) [] list2
let y = list2 |> List.fold(delete) [] list1
x = y
but this does not work and the compiler is telling me "The type '('a -> 'b)' does not support the 'equality' constraint because it is a function type" when I try to use the delete function with the list.fold method.
Although you say you are trying to use List.fold for this to understand it better, there is another List function that makes this simpler. This is to use List.except which is one of a number of methods that treats lists as sets.
let list1 = [1;2;3]
let list2 = [1;2;3;4]
let myFunc list1 list2=
list1 |> List.except list2, list2 |> List.except list1
printfn "%A" (myFunc list1 list2)
[],[4]
If you want to understand List.fold here you could try and create an explicit implementation of except using List.fold. However, again, this is simpler to implement using List.filter.
let list1 = [1;2;3]
let list2 = [1;2;3;4]
let except exclude src =
src |> List.filter (fun i -> exclude |> List.contains i |> not)
let myFuncCustom list1 list2 =
(list1 |> except list2), (list2 |> except list1)
printfn "%A" (myFuncCustom list1 list2)
[],[4]
So really you want to implement filter using List.fold. In this case you would actually need List.foldBack:
let filter f src =
List.foldBack (fun item filtered ->
if f item then item :: filtered else filtered) src []
You can use List.fold but then results are reversed and you need to pipe this into List.rev. And note that List.fold only takes three arguments: the first a folder function; second the accumulator which becomes the output - in this case a list too; and, the last, the source list to fold over. (Let us expand List.contains as well):
let list1 = [1;2;3]
let list2 = [1;2;3;4]
let rec contains item = function
| [] -> false
| hd::tl when hd = item -> true
| hd::tl -> contains item tl
let filter f src =
src
|> List.fold (fun filtered item ->
if f item then item :: filtered else filtered) []
|> List.rev
let except exclude src =
src |> filter (fun i -> exclude |> contains i |> not)
let myFuncCustom list1 list2 =
(list1 |> except list2), (list2 |> except list1)
printfn "%A" (myFuncCustom list1 list2)
[],[4]
This should be what you want:
let difference list blacklist =
let folder acc a =
if List.contains a blacklist
then acc
else a::acc
List.fold folder [] list
difference [1;2;3;4] [1;2;3] // [4]
difference [1;2;3] [1;2;3;4] // []
Looking at the code you posted, there seems to be some confusion on how fold works.
the arguments to fold are
A function that somehow combines a given state with an element of the list. This function can be as simple as summing the two arguments together resulting in a single scalar or it can be something really complicated that creates some weird data structure.
An initial state which must be of the type that you want fold to produce
And, of course, the list you want to fold over
Fold iterates the list, by calling your fold function for every element of the list.
The first time your fold function is called, it will get the initial state. Every other time it will get the state produced from the previous iteration.
Fold will return the last state that was produced by your fold function (or the initial state if the list is empty)
As your goal is to better understand fold I try to explain fold instead of explaining how you achive your goal.
fold is bacially a for loop for immutable data-types. It allows you to eliminate mutable variables. For example,
lets assume you want to sum all values of an integer list. In an "imperative" style you are probaly used to
write something like this.
(* This xs is used through all exampes *)
let xs = [1..10]
(* Example A1 *)
let mutable sum = 0
for x in xs do
sum <- sum + x
(* sum = 55 *)
Before you loop through a list, you define a mutable sum and then mutate the sum and updating it on everey iteration.
This is how you achive it with List.fold.
(* Example A2 *)
let sum =
List.fold (fun sum x ->
sum + x
) 0 xs
(* sum = 55 *)
You can think of List.fold as the following.
The function is the body of the loop that gets executed for every item in your list.
The second argument to List.fold (here 0) is the state you want to compute. This is the sum.
The last argument of List.fold is finally the list you want to traverse.
The function always gets two arguments. The state and the next item of your list. Your function must return
the next state.
With the for-loop you also have state. But the state is outside of the for-loop and you achieve your goal
by mutating the state.
You also can think of the List.fold by mentally mapping the values to the lambda function you provide. The second
argument 0 will be sum in your lambda and x in your lambda is one value of xs. The result of your lambda is
the sum for the next call.
Let's say you want to compute three things on the fly. A mutable version looks like this
(* Helper Function *)
let isEven x = x &&& 1 = 0
(* Example B1 *)
let mutable count = 0
let mutable evens = 0
let mutable sum = 0
for x in xs do
count <- count + 1
if isEven x then
evens <- evens + 1
sum <- sum + x
(* count=10; evens=5; sum=55 *)
Here we compute the amount of values in a list, how many even values exists, and the sum in one go.
List.fold only allows one state, but the state can be a complex value. For example a tuple with three values. The
same example with List.fold looks like this:
(* Example B2 *)
let count,evens,sum =
List.fold (fun (count,evens,sum) x ->
(count+1), (if isEven x then evens + 1 else evens), (sum + x)
) (0,0,0) xs
(* count=10; evens=5; sum=55 *)
To better understand fold it is crucial to understand recursion and immutable data-strucutres like how list works.
You could implement fold yourself like this:
(* Self-defined fold *)
let rec myFold f state xs =
match xs with
| [] -> state
| x::rest -> myFold f (f state x) rest
(* Example C *)
let sum = myFold (fun sum x -> sum + x) 0 xs
(* sum = 55 *)
fold just do two things, it checks if the list is empty and in that case returns the state. Or it removes one element from the top of your list and calls itself recursively by
Keeping the function.
Producing the next state with (f state x)
Use the remaining list rest
Maybe you wonder about performance. This is tail-recursive, and tail-recursive functions are basically turned into for-loops by the compiler. So it has no performance penalty compared to the code that mutate things.
This is at least the case in F#. Just a reminder, not every compiler or run-time for other languages support tail-recursion.

Recursive function in F# that determines in a list of n elements of type int, the greater of two adjacent values

I have recently started learning f# and I have a problem with a task like the one in the subject line. I managed to solve this task but not using a recursive function. I have tried to convert my function to a recursive function but it does not work because in the function I create arrays which elements I then change. Please advise me how to convert my function to a recursive function or how else to perform this task.
let list = [8;4;3;3;5;9;-7]
let comp (a,b) = if a>b then a elif b = a then a else b
let maks (b: _ list) =
let x = b.Length
if x % 2 = 0 then
let tab = Array.create ((x/2)) 0
for i = 0 to (x/2)-1 do
tab.[i] <- (comp(b.Item(2*i),b.Item(2*i+1)))
let newlist = tab |> Array.toList
newlist
else
let tab = Array.create (((x-1)/2)+1) 0
tab.[(((x-1)/2))] <- b.Item(x-1)
for i = 0 to ((x-1)/2)-1 do
tab.[i] <- (comp(b.Item(2*i),b.Item(2*i+1)))
let newlist = tab |> Array.toList
newlist
It is worth noting that, if you were doing this not for learning purposes, there is a nice way of doing this using the chunkBySize function:
list
|> List.chunkBySize 2
|> List.map (fun l -> comp(l.[0], l.[l.Length-1]))
This splits the list into chunks of size at most 2. For each chunk, you can then compare the first element with the last element and that is the result you wanted.
If this is a homework question, I don't want to give away the answer, so consider this pseudocode solution instead:
If the list contains at least two elements:
Answer a new list consisting of:
The greater of the first two elements, followed by
Recursively applying the function to the rest of the list
Else the list contains less than two elements:
Answer the list unchanged
Hint: F#'s pattern matching ability makes this easy to implement.
Thanks to your guidance I managed to create the following function:
let rec maks2 (b: _ list,newlist: _ list,i:int) =
let x = b.Length
if x >= 2 then
if x % 2 = 0 then
if i < ((x/2)-1)+1 then
let d = (porownaj(b.Item(2*i),b.Item(2*i+1)))
let list2 = d::newlist
maks2(b,list2,i+1)
else
newlist
else
if i < ((x/2)-1)+1 then
let d = (porownaj(b.Item(2*i),b.Item(2*i+1)))
let list2 = d::newlist
maks2(b,list2,i+1)
else
let list3 = b.Item(x-1)::newlist
list3
else
b
The function works correctly, it takes as arguments list, empty list and index.
The only problem is that the returned list is reversed, i.e. values that should be at the end are at the beginning. How to add items to the end of the list?
You can use pattern matching to match and check/extract lists in one step.A typical recursive function, would look like:
let rec adjGreater xs =
match xs with
| [] -> []
| [x] -> [x]
| x::y::rest -> (if x >= y then x else y) :: adjGreater rest
It checks wether the list is empty, has one element, or has two elements and the remaining list in rest.
Then it builds a new list by either using x or y as the first element, and then compute the result of the remaing rest recursivly.
This is not tail-recursive. A tail-call optimized version would be, that instead of using the result of the recursive call. You would create a new list, and pass the computed valuke so far, to the recursive function. Usually this way, you want to create a inner recursive loop function.
As you only can add values to the top of a list, you then need to reverse the result of the recursive function like this:
let adjGreater xs =
let rec loop xs result =
match xs with
| [] -> result
| [x] -> x :: result
| x::y::rest -> loop rest ((if x >= y then x else y) :: result)
List.rev (loop xs [])

Does Seq.groupBy preserve order within groups?

I want to group a sequence and then take the first occurrence of each element in the group. When I try this
Seq.groupBy f inSeq
|> Seq.map (fun (k,s) -> (k,s|>Seq.take 1|>Seq.exactlyOne))
I find that sometimes I get a different element from s. Is this expected?
Looking at the source of the groupBy implementation -
here's the relevant bit:
// Build the groupings
seq |> iter (fun v ->
let safeKey = keyf v
let mutable prev = Unchecked.defaultof<_>
match dict.TryGetValue (safeKey, &prev) with
| true -> prev.Add v
| false ->
let prev = ResizeArray ()
dict.[safeKey] <- prev
prev.Add v)
It iterates through the source array and adds the values to the corresponding list for the key. The order of subsequences is directly affected by the order of the input sequence. For the same input sequence, we can expect groupBy to return identical output sequences. This is how tests are coded for groupBy.
If you're seeing variations in the resulting sequences, check the input sequence.
Yes, this is expected. Sequences (seq) aren't guaranteed to be pure. You can define a sequence that will yield different values every time you iterate over them. If you call Seq.take 1 twice, you can get different results.
Consider, as an example, this sequence:
open System
let r = Random ()
let s = seq { yield r.Next(0, 9) }
If you call Seq.take 1 on that, you may get different results:
> s |> Seq.take 1;;
val it : seq<int> = seq [4]
> s |> Seq.take 1;;
val it : seq<int> = seq [1]
Using Seq.head isn't going to help you either:
> s |> Seq.head;;
val it : int = 2
> s |> Seq.head;;
val it : int = 6
If you want to guarantee deterministic behaviour, use a List instead.

Tail Recursive map f#

I want to write a tail recursive function to multiply all the values in a list by 2 in F#. I know there is a bunch of ways to do this but i want to know if this is even a viable method. This is purely for educational purposes. I realize that there is a built in function to do this for me.
let multiply m =
let rec innerfunct ax = function
| [] -> printfn "%A" m
| (car::cdr) -> (car <- car*2 innerfunct cdr);
innerfunct m;;
let mutable a = 1::3::4::[]
multiply a
I get two errors with this though i doubt they are the only problems.
This value is not mutable on my second matching condition
and
This expression is a function value, i.e. is missing arguments. Its type is 'a list -> unit. for when i call length a.
I am fairly new to F# and realize im probably not calling the function properly but i cant figure out why. This is mostly a learning experience for me so the explanation is more important than just fixing the code. The syntax is clearly off, but can i map *2 to a list just by doing the equivalent of
car = car*2 and then calling the inner function on the cdr of the list.
There are a number of issues that I can't easily explain without showing intermediate code, so I'll try to walk through a commented refactoring:
First, we'll go down the mutable path:
As F# lists are immutable and so are primitive ints, we need a way to mutate that thing inside the list:
let mutable a = [ref 1; ref 3; ref 4]
Getting rid of the superfluous ax and arranging the cases a bit, we can make use of these reference cells:
let multiply m =
let rec innerfunct = function
| [] -> printfn "%A" m
| car :: cdr ->
car := !car*2
innerfunct cdr
innerfunct m
We see, that multiply only calls its inner function, so we end up with the first solution:
let rec multiply m =
match m with
| [] -> printfn "%A" m
| car :: cdr ->
car := !car*2
multiply cdr
This is really only for it's own purpose. If you want mutability, use arrays and traditional for-loops.
Then, we go up the immutable path:
As we learnt in the mutable world, the first error is due to car not being mutable. It is just a primitive int out of an immutable list. Living in an immutable world means we can only create something new out of our input. What we want is to construct a new list, having car*2 as head and then the result of the recursive call to innerfunct. As usual, all branches of a function need to return some thing of the same type:
let multiply m =
let rec innerfunct = function
| [] ->
printfn "%A" m
[]
| car :: cdr ->
car*2 :: innerfunct cdr
innerfunct m
Knowing m is immutable, we can get rid of the printfn. If needed, we can put it outside of the function, anywhere we have access to the list. It will always print the same.
We finish by also making the reference to the list immutable and obtain a second (intermediate) solution:
let multiply m =
let rec innerfunct = function
| [] -> []
| car :: cdr -> car*2 :: innerfunct cdr
innerfunct m
let a = [1; 3; 4]
printfn "%A" a
let multiplied = multiply a
printfn "%A" multiplied
It might be nice to also multiply by different values (the function is called multiply after all and not double). Also, now that innerfunct is so small, we can make the names match the small scope (the smaller the scope, the shorter the names):
let multiply m xs =
let rec inner = function
| [] -> []
| x :: tail -> x*m :: inner tail
inner xs
Note that I put the factor first and the list last. This is similar to other List functions and allows to create pre-customized functions by using partial application:
let double = multiply 2
let doubled = double a
All that's left now is to make multiply tail-recursive:
let multiply m xs =
let rec inner acc = function
| [] -> acc
| x :: tail -> inner (x*m :: acc) tail
inner [] xs |> List.rev
So we end up having (for educational purposes) a hard-coded version of let multiply' m = List.map ((*) m)
F# is a 'single-pass' compiler, so you can expect any compilation error to have a cascading effect beneath the error. When you have a compilation error, focus on that single error. While you may have more errors in your code (you do), it may also be that subsequent errors are only consequences of the first error.
As the compiler says, car isn't mutable, so you can assign a value to it.
In Functional Programming, a map can easily be implemented as a recursive function:
// ('a -> 'b) -> 'a list -> 'b list
let rec map f = function
| [] -> []
| h::t -> f h :: map f t
This version, however, isn't tail-recursive, since it recursively calls map before it cons the head onto the tail.
You can normally refactor to a tail-recursive implementation by introducing an 'inner' implementation function that uses an accumulator for the result. Here's one way to do that:
// ('a -> 'b) -> 'a list -> 'b list
let map' f xs =
let rec mapImp f acc = function
| [] -> acc
| h::t -> mapImp f (acc # [f h]) t
mapImp f [] xs
Here, mapImp is the last operation to be invoked in the h::t case.
This implementation is a bit inefficient because it concatenates two lists (acc # [f h]) in each iteration. Depending on the size of the lists to map, it may be more efficient to cons the accumulator and then do a single reverse at the end:
// ('a -> 'b) -> 'a list -> 'b list
let map'' f xs =
let rec mapImp f acc = function
| [] -> acc
| h::t -> mapImp f (f h :: acc) t
mapImp f [] xs |> List.rev
In any case, however, the only reason to do all of this is for the exercise, because this function is already built-in.
In all cases, you can use map functions to multiply all elements in a list by two:
> let mdouble = List.map ((*) 2);;
val mdouble : (int list -> int list)
> mdouble [1..10];;
val it : int list = [2; 4; 6; 8; 10; 12; 14; 16; 18; 20]
Normally, though, I wouldn't even care to define such function explicitly. Instead, you use it inline:
> List.map ((*) 2) [1..10];;
val it : int list = [2; 4; 6; 8; 10; 12; 14; 16; 18; 20]
You can use all the above map function in the same way.
Symbols that you are creating in a match statement are not mutable, so when you are matching with (car::cdr) you cannot change their values.
Standard functional way would be to produce a new list with the computed values. For that you can write something like this:
let multiplyBy2 = List.map (fun x -> x * 2)
multiplyBy2 [1;2;3;4;5]
This is not tail recursive by itself (but List.map is).
If you really want to change values of the list, you could use an array instead. Then your function will not produce any new objects, just iterate through the array:
let multiplyArrayBy2 arr =
arr
|> Array.iteri (fun index value -> arr.[index] <- value * 2)
let someArray = [| 1; 2; 3; 4; 5 |]
multiplyArrayBy2 someArray

Remove a single non-unique value from a sequence in F#

I have a sequence of integers representing dice in F#.
In the game in question, the player has a pool of dice and can choose to play one (governed by certain rules) and keep the rest.
If, for example, a player rolls a 6, 6 and a 4 and decides to play one the sixes, is there a simple way to return a sequence with only one 6 removed?
Seq.filter (fun x -> x != 6) dice
removes all of the sixes, not just one.
Non-trivial operations on sequences are painful to work with, since they don't support pattern matching. I think the simplest solution is as follows:
let filterFirst f s =
seq {
let filtered = ref false
for a in s do
if filtered.Value = false && f a then
filtered := true
else yield a
}
So long as the mutable implementation is hidden from the client, it's still functional style ;)
If you're going to store data I would use ResizeArray instead of a Sequence. It has a wealth of functions built in such as the function you asked about. It's simply called Remove. Note: ResizeArray is an abbreviation for the CLI type List.
let test = seq [1; 2; 6; 6; 1; 0]
let a = new ResizeArray<int>(test)
a.Remove 6 |> ignore
Seq.toList a |> printf "%A"
// output
> [1; 2; 6; 1; 0]
Other data type options could be Array
let removeOneFromArray v a =
let i = Array.findIndex ((=)v) a
Array.append a.[..(i-1)] a.[(i+1)..]
or List
let removeOneFromList v l =
let rec remove acc = function
| x::xs when x = v -> List.rev acc # xs
| x::xs -> remove (x::acc) xs
| [] -> acc
remove [] l
the below code will work for a list (so not any seq but it sounds like the sequence your using could be a List)
let rec removeOne value list =
match list with
| head::tail when head = value -> tail
| head::tail -> head::(removeOne value tail)
| _ -> [] //you might wanna fail here since it didn't find value in
//the list
EDIT: code updated based on correct comment below. Thanks P
EDIT: After reading a different answer I thought that a warning would be in order. Don't use the above code for infite sequences but since I guess your players don't have infite dice that should not be a problem but for but for completeness here's an implementation that would work for (almost) any
finite sequence
let rec removeOne value seq acc =
match seq.Any() with
| true when s.First() = value -> seq.Skip(1)
| true -> seq.First()::(removeOne value seq.Skip(1))
| _ -> List.rev acc //you might wanna fail here since it didn't find value in
//the list
However I recommend using the first solution which Im confident will perform better than the latter even if you have to turn a sequence into a list first (at least for small sequences or large sequences with the soughtfor value in the end)
I don't think there is any function that would allow you to directly represent the idea that you want to remove just the first element matching the specified criteria from the list (e.g. something like Seq.removeOne).
You can implement the function in a relatively readable way using Seq.fold (if the sequence of numbers is finite):
let removeOne f l =
Seq.fold (fun (removed, res) v ->
if removed then true, v::res
elif f v then true, res
else false, v::res) (false, []) l
|> snd |> List.rev
> removeOne (fun x -> x = 6) [ 1; 2; 6; 6; 1 ];
val it : int list = [1; 2; 6; 1]
The fold function keeps some state - in this case of type bool * list<'a>. The Boolean flag represents whether we already removed some element and the list is used to accumulate the result (which has to be reversed at the end of processing).
If you need to do this for (possibly) infinite seq<int>, then you'll need to use GetEnumerator directly and implement the code as a recursive sequence expression. This is a bit uglier and it would look like this:
let removeOne f (s:seq<_>) =
// Get enumerator of the input sequence
let en = s.GetEnumerator()
let rec loop() = seq {
// Move to the next element
if en.MoveNext() then
// Is this the element to skip?
if f en.Current then
// Yes - return all remaining elements without filtering
while en.MoveNext() do
yield en.Current
else
// No - return this element and continue looping
yield en.Current
yield! loop() }
loop()
You can try this:
let rec removeFirstOccurrence item screened items =
items |> function
| h::tail -> if h = item
then screened # tail
else tail |> removeFirstOccurrence item (screened # [h])
| _ -> []
Usage:
let updated = products |> removeFirstOccurrence product []

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