Simple Go Pointer Explaination - pointers

Im working through a Go Ebook.
Here we are creating an array of pointers as so:
sampleArray := [5]*int{0: new(int), 1: new(int)}
As you can see index 0 and index 1 of sampleArray contain initialized integers whereas the remaining indexes contain uninitialized integers.
Then they do the following operation:
*sampleArray[0] = 10
*sampleArray[1] = 20
With that, the values of sampleArray should be:
[0] => address (integer pointer) -> 10
[1] => address (integer pointer) -> 20
[2] => nil (integer pointer)
[3] => nil (integer pointer)
[4] => nil (integer pointer)
My question is, why do we do this:
*sampleArray[0] = 10
*sampleArray[1] = 20
And not this:
sampleArray[0] = 10
sampleArray[1] = 20
To me it looks like we are assigning a value to a pointer which points to another pointer. Shouln't we be assigning the value to the actual memory reference?
Why not then?
&sampleArray[0] = 10
&sampleArray[1] = 20
Im extremely new to pointers so please any thourough assistance would be helpful

This is actually a good question.
The dereferencing operator * has a lower precedence than array access (which in C is equivalent to pointer deref). So *a[x] in Go means "dereference a[x]" and not "dereference a and take element x".
Hope this clarifies things.

Related

SML Create function receives list of tuples and return list with sum each pair

I'm studying Standard ML and one of the exercices I have to do is to write a function called opPairs that receives a list of tuples of type int, and returns a list with the sum of each pair.
Example:
input: opPairs [(1, 2), (3, 4)]
output: val it = [3, 7]
These were my attempts, which are not compiling:
ATTEMPT 1
type T0 = int * int;
fun opPairs ((h:TO)::t) = let val aux =(#1 h + #2 h) in
aux::(opPairs(t))
end;
The error message is:
Error: unbound type constructor: TO
Error: operator and operand don't agree [type mismatch]
operator domain: {1:'Y; 'Z}
operand: [E]
in expression:
(fn {1=1,...} => 1) h
ATTEMPT 2
fun opPairs2 l = map (fn x => #1 x + #2 x ) l;
The error message is: Error: unresolved flex record (need to know the names of ALL the fields
in this context)
type: {1:[+ ty], 2:[+ ty]; 'Z}
The first attempt has a typo: type T0 is defined, where 0 is zero, but then type TO is referenced in the pattern, where O is the letter O. This gets rid of the "operand and operator do not agree" error, but there is a further problem. The pattern ((h:T0)::t) does not match an empty list, so there is a "match nonexhaustive" warning with the corrected type identifier. This manifests as an exception when the function is used, because the code needs to match an empty list when it reaches the end of the input.
The second attempt needs to use a type for the tuples. This is because the tuple accessor #n needs to know the type of the tuple it accesses. To fix this problem, provide the type of the tuple argument to the anonymous function:
fun opPairs2 l = map (fn x:T0 => #1 x + #2 x) l;
But, really it is bad practice to use #1, #2, etc. to access tuple fields; use pattern matching instead. Here is a cleaner approach, more like the first attempt, but taking full advantage of pattern matching:
fun opPairs nil = nil
| opPairs ((a, b)::cs) = (a + b)::(opPairs cs);
Here, opPairs returns an empty list when the input is an empty list, otherwise pattern matching provides the field values a and b to be added and consed recursively onto the output. When the last tuple is reached, cs is the empty list, and opPairs cs is then also the empty list: the individual tuple sums are then consed onto this empty list to create the output list.
To extend on exnihilo's answer, once you have achieved familiarity with the type of solution that uses explicit recursion and pattern matching (opPairs ((a, b)::cs) = ...), you can begin to generalise the solution using list combinators:
val opPairs = map op+

Julia : construct Dictionary with tuple values

Is there a possibility to construct dictionary with tuple values in Julia?
I tried
dict = Dict{Int64, (Int64, Int64)}()
dict = Dict{Int64, Tuple(Int64, Int64)}()
I also tried inserting tuple values but I was able to change them after so they were not tuples.
Any idea?
Edit:
parallel_check = Dict{Any, (Any, Any)}()
for i in 1:10
dict[i] = (i+41, i+41)
end
dict[1][2] = 1 # not able to change this way, setindex error!
dict[1] = (3, 5) # this is acceptable. why?
The syntax for tuple types (i.e. the types of tuples) changed from (Int64,Int64) in version 0.3 and earlier to Tuple{Int64,Int64} in 0.4. Note the curly braces, not parens around Int64,Int64. You can also discover this at the REPL by applying the typeof function to an example tuple:
julia> typeof((1,2))
Tuple{Int64,Int64}
So you can construct the dictionary you want like this:
julia> dict = Dict{Int64,Tuple{Int64,Int64}}()
Dict{Int64,Tuple{Int64,Int64}} with 0 entries
julia> dict[1] = (2,3)
(2,3)
julia> dict[2.0] = (3.0,4)
(3.0,4)
julia> dict
Dict{Int64,Tuple{Int64,Int64}} with 2 entries:
2 => (3,4)
1 => (2,3)
The other part of your question is unrelated, but I'll answer it here anyway: tuples are immutable – you cannot change one of the elements in a tuple. Dictionaries, on the other hand are mutable, so you can assign an entirely new tuple value to a slot in a dictionary. In other words, when you write dict[1] = (3,5) you are assigning into dict, which is ok, but when you write dict[1][2] = 1 you are assigning into the tuple at position 1 in dict which is not ok.

Fortran pointer array to multiple targets

Is there a way to have in Fortran a pointer to an array pointing different targets?
The following code shows what I am trying to do, which does not work as I want since the second association overwrites the first
implicit none
integer, parameter :: n = 3
integer, target :: a(n), b(n)
integer, pointer :: c(:) => NULL()
a = 4
b = 5
c(1:n) => a(1:n)
c(n+1:2*n) => b(1:n)
c(1:2*n) = 1
print*, a
print*, b
OUTPUT (ifort)
4 1 1
1 1 1
OUTPUT (gfortran)
4 4 4
1 1 1
And, any idea why ifort and gfortran behave differently in this case?
No, there is no simple way to do this, at least as far as I can see. Maybe if you say why you are trying to do this somebody might come up with a suitable answer, for instance in my mind derived types and/or array constructors might be the way to go but without context it is difficult to say.
As for why you get different answers you accessed an array out of bounds so anything can happen:
ian#ian-pc:~/test/stack$ cat point.f90
Program point
implicit none
integer, parameter :: n = 3
integer, target :: a(n), b(n)
integer, pointer :: c(:) => NULL()
a = 4
b = 5
c(1:n) => a(1:n)
c(n+1:2*n) => b(1:n)
c(1:2*n) = 1
print*, a
print*, b
End Program point
ian#ian-pc:~/test/stack$ nagfor -C=all -C=undefined point.f90
NAG Fortran Compiler Release 5.3.1(907)
[NAG Fortran Compiler normal termination]
ian#ian-pc:~/test/stack$ ./a.out
Runtime Error: point.f90, line 14: Subscript 1 of C (value 1) is out of range (4:6)
Program terminated by fatal error
Aborted (core dumped)
Think carefully what the lines
c(1:n) => a(1:n)
c(n+1:2*n) => b(1:n)
are doing. The first line says forget about whatever c was before, now c( 1:n ) is an alias for a( 1:n ). Note the allowed indices for c run from 1 to n. Similarly the second line throws away the reference to a and says c( n+1:2*n) is an alias for b( 1:n ). Note now the indices of C run from n+1:2*n, while for b they run from 1:n, but this is fine as both have n elements and that is all that matters. However the next line says
c(1:2*n) = 1
which can not be correct as you have just said the lowest allowed index for C is n+1, and as n=3 1 is not a valid index. Thus you are out of bounds and so anything can happen.
I strongly suggest when developing you use the debugging options on the compiler - in my experience it can save you hours by avoiding this kind of thing!

ERROR: `*` has no method matching *(::Variable)

I wrote the following code:
using JuMP
m = Model()
const A =
[ :a0 ,
:a1 ,
:a2 ]
const T = [1:5]
const U =
[
:a0 => [9 9 9 9 999],
:a1 => [11 11 11 11 11],
:a2 => [1 1 1 1 1]
]
#defVar(m, x[A,T], Bin)
#setObjective(m, Max, sum{sum{x[i,j] * U[i,j], i=A}, j=T} )
print(m)
status = solve(m)
println("Objective value: ", getObjectiveValue(m))
println("x = ", getValue(x))
When I run it I get the following error
ERROR: `*` has no method matching *(::Variable)
in anonymous at /home/username/.julia/v0.3/JuMP/src/macros.jl:71
in include at ./boot.jl:245
in include_from_node1 at loading.jl:128
in process_options at ./client.jl:285
in _start at ./client.jl:354
while loading /programs/julia-0.2.1/models/a003.jl, in expression starting on line 21
What's the correct way of doing this?
As the manual says:
There is one key restriction on the form of the expression in the second case: if there is a product between coefficients and variables, the variables must appear last. That is, Coefficient times Variable is good, but Variable times Coefficient is bad
Let me know if there is another place I could put this that would have helped you out.
This situation isn't desirable but unfortunately we haven't got a good solution yet that retains the fast model construction capabilities of JuMP.
I believe the problem with U is that it is a dictionary of arrays, thus you first need to index into the dictionary to return the correct array, then index into the array. JuMP's variables have more powerful indexing, so allow you to do it in one set of [].
I resolved my problem: constants must preceed variables as I read somewhere, moreover it seems that an array of constants must be used as an array of arrays while variables can be used as matrices.
Here's the correct line:
#setObjective(m, Max, sum{sum{U[i][j]*x[i,j], i=A}, j=T} )

What does the lambda calculus have to say about return values?

It is by now a well known theorem of the lambda calculus that any function taking two or more arguments can be written through currying as a chain of functions taking one argument:
# Pseudo-code for currying
f(x,y) -> f_curried(x)(y)
This has proven to be extremely powerful not just in studying the behavior of functions but in practical use (Haskell, etc.).
Functions returning values, however, seem to not be discussed. Programmers typically deal with their inability to return more than one value from a function by returning some meta-object (lists in R, structures in C++, etc.). It has always struck me as a bit of a kludge, but a useful one.
For instance:
# R code for "faking" multiple return values
uselessFunc <- function(dat) {
model1 <- lm( y ~ x , data=dat )
return( list( coef=coef(model1), form=formula(model1) ) )
}
Questions
Does the lambda calculus have anything to say about a multiplicity of return values? If so, do any surprising conclusions result?
Similarly, do any languages allow true multiple return values?
According to the Wikipedia page on lambda calculus:
Lambda calculus, also written as λ-calculus, is a formal system for function
definition, function application and recursion
And a function, in the mathematical sense:
Associates one quantity, the argument of the function, also known as the input,
with another quantity, the value of the function, also known as the output
So answering your first question no, lambda calculus (or any other formalism based on mathematical functions) can not have multiple return values.
For your second question, as far as I know, programming languages that implement multiple return values do so by packing multiple results in some kind of data structure (be it a tuple, an array, or even the stack) and then unpacking it later - and that's where the differences lie, as some programming languages make the packing/unpacking part transparent for the programmer (for instance Python uses tuples under the hood) while other languages make the programmer do the job explicitly, for example Java programmers can simulate multiple return values to some extent by packing multiple results in a returned Object array and then extracting and casting the returned result by hand.
A function returns a single value. This is how functions are defined in mathematics. You can return multiple values by packing them into one compound value. But then it is still a single value. I'd call it a vector, because it has components. There are vector functions in mathematics there, so there are also in programming languages. The only difference is the support level from the language itself and does it facilitate it or not.
Nothing prevents you from having multiple functions, each one returning one of the multiple results that you would like to return.
For example, say, you had the following function in python returning a list.
def f(x):
L = []
for i in range(x):
L.append(x * i)
return L
It returns [0, 3, 6] for x=3 and [0, 5, 10, 15, 20] for x=5. Instead, you can totally have
def f_nth_value(x, n):
L = []
for i in range(x):
L.append(x * i)
if n < len(L):
return L[n]
return None
Then you can request any of the outputs for a given input, and get it, or get None, if there aren't enough outputs:
In [11]: f_nth_value(3, 0)
Out[11]: 0
In [12]: f_nth_value(3, 1)
Out[12]: 3
In [13]: f_nth_value(3, 2)
Out[13]: 6
In [14]: f_nth_value(3, 3)
In [15]: f_nth_value(5, 2)
Out[15]: 10
In [16]: f_nth_value(5, 5)
Computational resources may be wasted if you have to do some of the same work, as in this case. Theoretically, it can be avoided by returning another function that holds all the results inside itself.
def f_return_function(x):
L = []
for i in range(x):
L.append(x * i)
holder = lambda n: L[n] if n < len(L) else None
return holder
So now we have
In [26]: result = f_return_function(5)
In [27]: result(3)
Out[27]: 15
In [28]: result(4)
Out[28]: 20
In [29]: result(5)
Traditional untyped lambda calculus is perfectly capable of expressing this idea. (After all, it is Turing complete.) Whenever you want to return a bunch of values, just return a function that can give the n-th value for any n.
In regard to the second question, python allows for such a syntax, if you know exactly, just how many values the function is going to return.
def f(x):
L = []
for i in range(x):
L.append(x * i)
return L
In [39]: a, b, c = f(3)
In [40]: a
Out[40]: 0
In [41]: b
Out[41]: 3
In [42]: c
Out[42]: 6
In [43]: a, b, c = f(2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ValueError Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-43-5480fa44be36> in <module>()
----> 1 a, b, c = f(2)
ValueError: need more than 2 values to unpack
In [44]: a, b, c = f(4)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ValueError Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-44-d2c7a6593838> in <module>()
----> 1 a, b, c = f(4)
ValueError: too many values to unpack
Lastly, here is an example from this Lisp tutorial:
;; in this function, the return result of (+ x x) is not assigned so it is essentially
;; lost; the function body moves on to the next form, (* x x), which is the last form
;; of this function body. So the function call only returns (* 10 10) => 100
* ((lambda (x) (+ x x) (* x x)) 10)
=> 100
;; in this function, we capture the return values of both (+ x x) and (* x x), as the
;; lexical variables SUM and PRODUCT; using VALUES, we can return multiple values from
;; a form instead of just one
* ((lambda (x) (let ((sum (+ x x)) (product (* x x))) (values sum product))) 10)
=> 20 100
I write this as a late response to the accepted answer since it is wrong!
Lambda Calculus does have multiple return values, but it takes a bit to understand what returning multiple values mean.
Lambda Calculus has no inherent definition of a collection of stuff, but it does allow you to invent it using products and church numerals.
pure functional JavaScript will be used for this example.
let's define a product as follows:
const product = a => b => callback => callback(a)(b);
then we can define church_0, and church_1 aka true, false, aka left, right, aka car, cdr, aka first, rest as follows:
const church_0 = a => b => a;
const church_1 = a => b => b;
let's start with making a function that returns two values, 20, and "Hello".
const product = a => b => callback => callback(a)(b);
const church_0 = a => b => a;
const church_1 = a => b => b;
const returns_many = () => product(20)("Hello");
const at_index_zero = returns_many()(church_0);
const at_index_one = returns_many()(church_1);
console.log(at_index_zero);
console.log(at_index_one);
As expected, we got 20 and "Hello".
To return more than 2 values, it gets a bit tricky:
const product = a => b => callback => callback(a)(b);
const church_0 = a => b => a;
const church_1 = a => b => b;
const returns_many = () => product(20)(
product("Hello")(
product("Yes")("No")
)
);
const at_index_zero = returns_many()(church_0);
const at_index_one = returns_many()(church_1)(church_0);
const at_index_two = returns_many()(church_1)(church_1)(church_0);
console.log(at_index_zero);
console.log(at_index_one);
console.log(at_index_two);
As you can see, a function can return an arbitrary number of return values, but to access these values, a you cannot simply use result()[0], result()[1], or result()[2], but you must use functions that filter out the position you want.
This is mindblowingly similar to electrical circuits, in that circuits have no "0", "1", "2", "3", but they do have means to make decisions, and by abstracting away our circuitry with byte(reverse list of 8 inputs), word(reverse list of 16 inputs), in this language, 0 as a byte would be [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0] which is equivalent to:
const Byte = a => b => c => d => e => f => g => h => callback =>
callback(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h);
const Byte_one = Byte(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(0)(1); // preserves
const Bit_zero = Byte_one(b7 => b6 => b5 => b4 => b3 => b2 => b1 => b0 => b0);
After inventing a number, we can make an algorithm to, given a byte-indexed array, and a byte representing index we want from this array, it will take care of the boilerplate.
Anyway, what we call arrays is nothing more than the following, expressed in higher level to show the point:
// represent nested list of bits(addresses)
// to nested list of bits(bytes) interpreted as strings.
const MyArray = function(index) {
return (index == 0)
? "0th"
: (index == 1)
? "first"
: "second"
;
};
except it doesnt do 2^32 - 1 if statements, it only does 8 and recursively narrows down the specific element you want. Essentially it acts exactly like a multiplexor(except the "single" signal is actually a fixed number of bits(coproducts, choices) needed to uniquely address elements).
My point is that is Arrays, Maps, Associative Arrays, Lists, Bits, Bytes, Words, are all fundamentally functions, both at circuit level(where we can represent complex universes with nothing but wires and switches), and mathematical level(where everything is ultimately products(sequences, difficult to manage without requiring nesting, eg lists), coproducts(types, sets), and exponentials(free functors(lambdas), forgetful functors)).

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