Is there a way to pass dependent fields to a Julia struct? - julia

##define the struct
struct DataLoader
getter::String
DataLoader(getter="remote") = new(getter)
end
##testing the struct
ld = DataLoader("local")
ld.getter
##local
ld = DataLoader()
ld.getter
##remote
I'm trying to write a dataloader in Julia with some additional methods later defined on it.
The data can be loaded in two ways by the user - "remote" and "local".
If the user choses local, I need another field base_dir - the directory where the data is stored. If the user choses remote, I don't need base_dir as I know which URL to make the request to.
After that, when the loader has been defined, I'll call some functions on the loader to do other stuff (example function below):
function bar(x::DataLoader)
if x.getter == "local"
#do_somethings
println("local found")
elseif x.getter == "remote"
println("remote found")
else
println("wrong mode passed")
end
end
My question is how do I define this co-dependency in the struct? That is, how do I tell the user and implement in my code the logic that if the getter is local I need base_dir and if it's remote, I can dynamically remove the field base_dir from my struct.
I'm new to Julia so any other tips on improving the code would also be more than welcome.

I think there are several ways to do this; in my view, the simplest one is to rely on the dispatcher. This revolves around using two structs, one for "local", one for "remote". If really needed, you can create an "AbstractLoader" they both belong to, more on that at the end.
struct LocalLoader
basedir::String
end
struct RemoteLoader
end
ll = LocalLoader("test_directory")
rl = RemoteLoader()
function bar(ll::LocalLoader)
println("Base directory is $(ll.basedir)")
end
function bar(rl::RemoteLoader)
println("This is the remote loader")
end
bar(ll)
bar(rl)
I see several advantages to this logic:
for the developer: the two methods can be developed independently
for the developer: you don't have to place some 'if' logic in your code which will remain simpler. (and it is not a possibility to pass an invalid mode). Said another way: you don't have to implement the dispatcher as you rely on Julia's dispatcher.
It clarifies the API to the user: when the user wants a local object a string must be passed. When the user wants a remote he/she can not pass the extra parameter.
The main drawback is code duplication. If there is some code duplication it can be countered, to do that you would need to make the two structs belong to an abstract type.
That would change the code in the following way:
abstract type AbstractLoader end
struct LocalLoader <: AbstractLoader
basedir::String
end
struct RemoteLoader <: AbstractLoader
end
ll = LocalLoader("test_directory")
rl = RemoteLoader()
function bar(ll::LocalLoader)
println("Base directory is $(ll.basedir)")
end
function bar(rl::RemoteLoader)
println("This is the remote loader")
end
bar(ll)
bar(rl)
function foo(al::AbstractLoader)
println("Do common tasks")
end
foo(ll)
foo(rl)

Related

Pointers sent to function

I have following code in main():
msgs, err := ch.Consume(
q.Name, // queue
//..
)
cache := ttlru.New(100, ttlru.WithTTL(5 * time.Minute)) //Cache type
//log.Println(reflect.TypeOf(msgs)) 'chan amqp.Delivery'
go func() {
//here I use `cache` and `msgs` as closures. And it works fine.
}
I decided to create separate function for instead of anonymous.
I declared it as func hitCache(cache *ttlru.Cache, msgs *chan amqp.Delivery) {
I get compile exception:
./go_server.go:61: cannot use cache (type ttlru.Cache) as type *ttlru.Cache in argument to hitCache:
*ttlru.Cache is pointer to interface, not interface
./go_server.go:61: cannot use msgs (type <-chan amqp.Delivery) as type *chan amqp.Delivery in argument to hitCache
Question: How should I pass msg and cache into the new function?
Well, if the receiving variable or a function parameter expects a value
of type *T — that is, "a pointer to T",
and you have a variable of type T, to get a pointer to it,
you have to get the address of that variable.
That's because "a pointer" is a value holding an address.
The address-taking operator in Go is &, so you need something like
hitCache(&cache, &msgs)
But note that some types have so-called "reference semantics".
That is, values of them keep references to some "hidden" data structure.
That means when you copy such values, you're copying references which all reference the same data structure.
In Go, the built-in types maps, slices and channels have reference semantics,
and hence you almost never need to pass around pointers to the values of such types (well, sometimes it can be useful but not now).
Interfaces can be thought of to have reference semantics, too (let's not for now digress into discussing this) because each value of any interface type contains two pointers.
So, in your case it's better to merely not declare the formal parameters of your function as pointers — declare them as "plain" types and be done with it.
All in all, you should definitely complete some basic resource on Go which explains these basic matters in more detail and more extensively.
You're using pointers in the function signature but not passing pointers - which is fine; as noted in the comments, there is no reason to use pointers for interface or channel values. Just change the function signature to:
hitCache(cache ttlru.Cache, msgs chan amqp.Delivery)
And it should work fine.
Pointers to interfaces are nearly never used. You may simplify things and use interfaces of pass by value.

Can Code be Protected From Rogue Callers In Ada?

I'm a fairly new Ada programmer. I have read the book by Barnes (twice I might add) and even managed to write a fair terminal program in Ada. My main language is C++ though.
I am currently wondering if there is a way to "protect" subroutine calls in Ada, perhaps in Ada 2012 (of which I know basically nothing). Let me explain what I mean (although in C++ terms).
Suppose you have a class Secret like this:
class Secret
{
private:
int secret_int;
public:
Set_Secret_Value( int i );
}
Now this is the usual stuff, dont expose secret_int, manipulate it only through access functions. However, the problem is that anybody with access to an object of type Secret can manipulate the value, whether that particular code section is supposed to do it or not. So the danger of rogue altering of secret_int has been reduced to anybody altering secret_int through the permitted functions, even if it happens in a code section that's not supposed to manipulate it.
To remedy that I came up with the following construct
class Secret
{
friend class Secret_Interface;
private:
int secret_int;
Set_Secret_Value( int i );
Super_Secret_Function();
};
class Secret_Interface
{
friend class Client;
private:
static Set_Secret_Value( Secret &rc_secret_object, int i )
{
rc_secret_object.Set_Secret( i );
}
};
class Client
{
Some_Function()
{
...
Secret_Interface::Set_Secret_Value( c_object, some-value );
...
}
}
Now the class Secret_Interface can determine which other classes can use it's private functions and by doing so, indirectly, the functions of class Secret that are exposed to Secret_Interface. This way class Secret still has private functions that can not be called by anybody outside the class, for instance function Super_Secret_Function().
Well I was wondering if anything of this sort is possible in Ada. Basically my desire is to be able to say:
Code A may only be executed by code B but not by anybody else
Thanks for any help.
Edit:
I add a diagram here with a program structure like I have in mind that shows that what I mean here is a transport of a data structure across a wide area of the software, definition, creation and use of a record should happen in code sections that are otherwise unrleated
I think the key is to realize that, unlike C++ and other languages, Ada's primary top-level unit is the package, and visibility control (i.e. public vs. private) is on a per-package basis, not a per-type (or per-class) basis. I'm not sure I'm saying that correctly, but hopefully things will be explained below.
One of the main purposes of friend in C++ is so that you can write two (or more) closely related classes that both take part in implementing one concept. In that case, it makes sense that the code in one class would be able to have more direct access to the code in another class, since they're working together. I assume that in your C++ example, Secret and Client have that kind of close relationship. If I understand C++ correctly, they do all have to be defined in the same source file; if you say friend class Client, then the Client class has to be defined somewhere later in the same source file (and it can't be defined earlier, because at that point the methods in Secret or Secret_Interface haven't yet been declared).
In Ada, you can simply define the types in the same package.
package P is
type Secret is tagged private;
type Client is tagged private;
-- define public operations for both types
private
type Secret is tagged record ... end record;
type Client is tagged record ... end record;
-- define private operations for either or both types
end P;
Now, the body of P will contain the actual code for the public and private operations of both types. All code in the package body of P has access to those things defined in P's private part, regardless of which type they operate on. And, in fact, all code has access to the full definitions of both types. This means that a procedure that operates on a Client can call a private operation that operates on a Secret, and in fact it can read and write a Secret's record components directly. (And vice versa.) This may seem bizarre to programmers used to the class paradigm used by most other OOP languages, but it works fine in Ada. (In fact, if you don't need Secret to be accessible to anything else besides the implementation of Client, the type and its operations can be defined in the private part of P, or the package body.) This arrangement doesn't violate the principles behind OOP (encapsulation, information hiding), as long as the two types are truly two pieces of the implementation of one coherent concept.
If that isn't what you want, i.e. if Secret and Client aren't that closely related, then I would need to see a larger example to find out just what kind of use case you're trying to implement.
MORE THOUGHTS: After looking over your diagram, I think that the way you're trying to solve the problem is inferior design--an anti-pattern, if you will. When you write a "module" (whatever that means--a class or package, or in some cases two or more closely related classes or packages cooperating with each other), the module defines how other modules may use it--what public operations it provides on its objects, and what those operations do.
But the module (let's call it M1) should work the same way, according to its contract, regardless of what other module calls it, and how. M1 will get a sequence of "messages" instructing it to perform certain tasks or return certain information; M1 should not care where those messages are coming from. In particular, M1 should not be making decisions about the structure of the clients that use it. By having M1 decree that "procedure XYZ can only be called from package ABC", M1 is imposing structural requirements on the clients that use it. This, I believe, causes M1 to be too tightly coupled to the rest of the program. It is not good design.
However, it may make sense for the module that uses M1 to exercise some sort of control like that, internally. Suppose we have a "module" M2 that actually uses a number of packages as part of its implementation. The "main" package in M2 (the one that clients of M2 use to get M2 to perform its task) uses M1 to create a new object, and then passes that object to several other packages that do the work. It seems like a reasonable design goal to find a way that M2 could pass that object to some packages or subprograms without giving them the ability to, say, update the object, but pass it to other packages or subprograms that would have that ability.
There are some solutions that would protect against most accidents. For example:
package M1 is
type Secret is tagged private;
procedure Harmless_Operation (X : in out Secret);
type Secret_With_Updater is new Secret with null record;
procedure Dangerous_Operation (X : in out Secret_With_Updater);
end M1;
Now, the packages that could take a "Secret" object but should not have the ability to update it would have procedures defined with Secret'Class parameters. M2 would create a Secret_With_Updater object; since this object type is in Secret'Class, it could be passed as a parameter to procedures with Secret'Class parameters. However, those procedures would not be able to call Dangerous_Operation on their parameters; that would not compile.
A package with a Secret'Class parameter could still call the dangerous operation with a type conversion:
procedure P (X : in out Secret'Class) is
begin
-- ...
M1.Secret_With_Updater(X).Dangerous_Operation;
-- ...
end P;
The language can't prevent this, because it can't make Secret_With_Updater visible to some packages but not others (without using a child package hierarchy). But it would be harder to do this accidentally. If you really wish to go further and prevent even this (if you think there will be a programmer whose understanding of good design principles is so poor that they'd be willing to write code like this), then you could go a little further:
package M1 is
type Secret is tagged private;
procedure Harmless_Operation (X : in out Secret);
type Secret_Acc is access all Secret;
type Secret_With_Updater is tagged private;
function Get_Secret (X : Secret_With_Updater) return Secret_Acc;
-- this will be "return X.S"
procedure Dangerous_Operation (X : in out Secret_With_Updater);
private
-- ...
type Secret_With_Updater is tagged record
S : Secret_Acc;
end record;
-- ...
end M1;
Then, to create a Secret, M2 would call something that creates a Secret_With_Updater that returns a record with an access to a Secret. It would then pass X.Get_Secret to those procedures which would not be allowed to call Dangerous_Operation, but X itself to those that would be allowed. (You might also be able to declare S : aliased Secret, declare Get_Secret to return access Secret, and implement it with return X.S'access. This may avoid a potential memory leak, but it may also run into accessibility-check issues. I haven't tried this.)
Anyway, perhaps some of these ideas could help accomplish what you want to accomplish without introducing unnecessary coupling by forcing M1 to know about the structure of the application that uses it. It's hard to tell because your description of the problem, even with the diagram, is still at too abstract a level for me to see what you really want to do.
You could do this by using child packages:
package Hidden is
private
A : Integer;
B : Integer;
end Hidden;
and then
package Hidden.Client_A_View is
function Get_A return Integer;
procedure Set_A (To : Integer);
end Hidden.Client_A_View;
Then, Client_A can write
with Hidden.Client_A_View;
procedure Client_A is
Tmp : Integer;
begin
Tmp := Hidden.Client_A_View.Get_A;
Hidden.Client_A_View.Set_A (Tmp + 1);
end Client_A;
Your question is extremely unclear (and all the C++ code doesn't help explaining what you need), but if your point is that you want a type to have some publicly accessible operations, and some private operations, then it is easily done:
package Example is
type Instance is private;
procedure Public_Operation (Item : in out Instance);
private
procedure Private_Operation (Item : in out Instance);
type Instance is ... -- whatever you need it to be
end Example;
The procedure Example.Private_Operation is accessible to children of Example. If you want an operation to be purely internal, you declare it only in the package body:
package body Example is
procedure Internal_Operation (Item : in out Instance);
...
end Example;
Well I was wondering if anything of this sort is possible in Ada. Basically my desire is to be able to say:
Code A may only be executed by code B but not by anybody else
If limited to language features, no.
Programmatically, code execution can be protected if the provider must be provided an approved "key" to allow execution of its services, and only authorized clients are supplied with such keys.
Devising the nature, generation, and security of such keys is left as an exercise for the reader.

Ada Actual for this must be a variable in out mode

I am making a program in Ada for Data Structures and Algorithms class.
My current problem is the error 'actual for "this" must be a variable'
I did some looking around and I read about it being because of in out mode, but I'm not entirely grasping why it's happening to me I guess.
The Examples I seen made sense but I guess since it's my coding I'm just not seeing it?
Procedure AddUnmarked(g:Grid; this:Linked_List_Coord.List_Type; c:Cell) is
cNorth : Cell := getCell(g, North(c));
cEast : Cell := getCell(g, East(c));
cSouth : Cell := getCell(g, South(c));
cWest : Cell := getCell(g, West(c));
Begin
if CellExists(g, cNorth) and not cNorth.IsMarked then
Linked_List_Coord.Append(this, cNorth.Coords);
elsif CellExists(g, cEast) and not cEast.IsMarked then
Linked_List_Coord.Append(this, cEast.Coords);
elsif CellExists(g, cSouth) and not cSouth.IsMarked then
Linked_List_Coord.Append(this, cSouth.Coords);
elsif CellExists(g, cWest) and not cWest.IsMarked then
Linked_List_Coord.Append(this, cWest.Coords);
end if;
End AddUnmarked;
before "this" is passed to the function it is a Linked_List of my self defined type Coord (2 integers). It is initialized and has had a Coordinate pair added to it before the list is passed to the function above in my code.
What it means is that the list cannot be modified unless you are passing it as a modifiable parameter, that is, in out.
To elaborate, think of LIST_TYPE as being a handle to a tagged-type object; in order to ensure that LIST_TYPE is valid you need to pass it in via an in parameter (or create/manipulate a local object), but to pass out your results you need an out parameter.
So, in order to do your operations on an already-existing object {and get the results back} you need in out.
In Ada, subroutine parameters all have a usage mode associated with them. The available modes are in, out, and in out*. If you don't specify a mode, (like you didn't in your code), then it defaults to in only.
The modes specify what you can do with that parameter on the inside of the subprogram. If you want to read a value passed in from outside the routine, it must have in on it. If you want to write to the parameter (and/or possibly have it read outside the routine), then it must have out on it.
Since none of your parameters have out on them, you cannot write to any of them.
(* - There's another possible mode: access, but that's an advanced topic).

Groovy DSL with embedded groovy scripts

I am writing a DSL for expressing flow (original I know) in groovy. I would like to provide the user the ability to write functions that are stored and evaluated at certain points in the flow. Something like:
states {
"checkedState" {
onEnter {state->
//do some groovy things with state object
}
}
}
Now, I am pretty sure I could surround the closure in quotes and store that. But I would like to keep syntax highlighting and content assist if possible when editing these DSLs. I realize that the closure COULD reference artifacts from the surrounding flow definition which would no longer be valid when executing the closure in a different context, and I am fine with this. In reality I would like to use the closure syntax for a non-closure function definition.
tl;dr; I need to get the closure's code while evaluating the DSL so that it can be stored in the database and executed by a script host later.
I don't think there is a way to get a closure's source code, as this information is discarded during compilation. Perhaps you could try writing an AST transformation that would make closure's syntax tree available at runtime.
If all you care about is storing the closure in the database, and you don't need later access to the source code, you can try serializing it and storing the serialized form.
Closure implements Serializable, and after nulling its owner, thisObject and delegate attributes I was able to serialize it, but I'm getting ClassNotFoundException on deserialization.
def myClosure = {a, b -> a + b}
Closure.metaClass.setAttribute(myClosure, "owner", null)
Closure.metaClass.setAttribute(myClosure, "thisObject", null)
myClosure.delegate = null
def byteOS = new ByteArrayOutputStream()
new ObjectOutputStream(byteOS).writeObject(myClosure)
def serializedClosure = byteOS.toByteArray()
def input = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(serializedClosure))
def deserializedClosure = input.readObject() // throws CNFE
After some searching, I found Groovy Remote Control, a library created specifically to enable serializing closures and executing them later, possibly on a remote machine. Give it a try, maybe that's what you need.

Trying to make a function generic, but getting hung up

I have a variable in a package (rec in this case) that needs to be set when called from package 3, but it's private. Previously the function set_true only set rec to true, so it wasn't a big deal. But I have another package that does the same processing (I'm giving a simple example, but my literal case is more complex), so I thought, well I could pass in the variable I want modified, and let it get changed. Is the only way to set rec in the below layout, to create a second function in package one, that calls set_true with rec as the parameter? I would like to avoid having to keep creating additional functions to handle the local variables. I can't move the variable to public (spec) as I am trying to follow convention and this "type" of variable isn't public anywhere else, and I don't want anyone to be able to just set it on their own (I want functions to have to set). I don't want to have to create a second function named for example set_local_true, and creating an overloaded function set_true, with no parameters, that calls set_true(value => rec) just seems deceptive, does anyone have any better suggestions with the limitations I have?
My two requirements:
Can't make the local variable public.
Be able to use the function to calculate something both externally and internally.
package one is
procedure set_true(value : out Boolean);
end one;
package body one is
rec : Boolean;
begin
procedure set_true(value : out Boolean)
begin
value := true;
end set_true;
end one;
package body two is
local_rec : Boolean;
begin
procedure call_function is
begin
one.set_true(value => local_rec);
end call_function;
end two;
package body three is
begin
procedure call_function is
begin
one.set_true(value => <PACKAGE ONE'S REC))
end call_function;
end three;
EDIT: Or perhaps, what would be a better naming convention for the functions to specify that they are modifying the variable that is local to that package? Set_Local_True again is deceptive cause if you call it from package 3, you're not setting your local true, you're setting package one's local to true....
First off, this is very silly code. I'll assume it is shorthand for something else. But as presented, I can assure you that your clients can set their own booleans themselves without you writing a routine to do it for them. In fact, they can do it better. For the remainder of this answer, I'll assume you aren't acutally writing variables to set booleans for people, but rather doing something of actual use. If not, ignore the rest of this answer and just delete your silly routines.
Secondly, if you are creating a routine with a single out parameter, then unless the object happens to be very large, you should probably make it a function instead. That will allow your clients to use functional programming if they chose. The way you have it, the poor coder has to stop and create a special variable just to call your routine, even if they only want to do it once.
Thirdly, rather than using a unique set routine for each state, I generally prefer to pass in the requested state.
function Set_Frobnost (New_State : boolean := true) return boolean;
If the state is really and truly boolean (no possible third state in the future), then it is debateable. However, it can be a big advantage to your client if they might already have to store the state in a variable (or loop through it).
Your edit about naming shows me you are on the right track.
You should do one of two things here.
Find the higher-level concept controlled by that variable, and name the "setter" routine after that.
Get the hell out of the way and put the flag variable in the pacakge spec.
If you have to access private variables, you might to do it in a child package.
package One is
procedure Foo (X : Boolean);
private
One_Private : Boolean;
end One;
and then
package body One.Two is
procedure Bar is
One.Foo (One.One_Private);
end Bar;
end One.Two;
Elements in the "private" part of a package are like "protected" entities in C++/Java. Truly private variables (only in package body) are not accessible from anywhere else.

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