Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Basic Haskell Examples

The Haskell community self-selects for people interested in unique things that Haskell can do that other languages cannot do. Consequently, a large chunk of Haskell example code in the wild uses advanced idioms (and I'm guilty of that, too).

So I would like to swing the pendulum in the other direction by just writing five small but useful programs without any imports, language extensions, or advanced features. These are programs that you could write in any other language and that's the point: you can use Haskell in the same way that you use other languages.

They won't be the prettiest or most type-safe programs, but that's okay.

Example #1: TODO program

This program is an interactive TODO list:

putTodo :: (Int, String) -> IO ()
putTodo (n, todo) = putStrLn (show n ++ ": " ++ todo)

prompt :: [String] -> IO ()
prompt todos = do
    putStrLn ""
    putStrLn "Current TODO list:"
    mapM_ putTodo (zip [0..] todos)
    command <- getLine
    interpret command todos

interpret :: String -> [String] -> IO ()
interpret ('+':' ':todo) todos = prompt (todo:todos)
interpret ('-':' ':num ) todos =
    case delete (read num) todos of
        Nothing -> do
            putStrLn "No TODO entry matches the given number"
            prompt todos
        Just todos' -> prompt todos'
interpret  "q"           todos = return ()
interpret  command       todos = do
    putStrLn ("Invalid command: `" ++ command ++ "`")
    prompt todos

delete :: Int -> [a] -> Maybe [a]
delete 0 (_:as) = Just as
delete n (a:as) = do
    as' <- delete (n - 1) as
    return (a:as')
delete _  []    = Nothing

main = do
    putStrLn "Commands:"
    putStrLn "+ <String> - Add a TODO entry"
    putStrLn "- <Int>    - Delete the numbered entry"
    putStrLn "q          - Quit"
    prompt []

Example usage:

$ runghc todo.hs
Commands:
+ <String> - Add a TODO entry
- <Int>    - Delete the numbered entry
q          - Quit

Current TODO list:
+ Go to bed

Current TODO list:
0: Go to bed
+ Buy some milk

Current TODO list:
0: Buy some milk
1: Go to bed
+ Shampoo the hamster

Current TODO list:
0: Shampoo the hamster
1: Buy some milk
2: Go to bed
- 1

Current TODO list:
0: Shampoo the hamster
1: Go to bed
q

Example #2 - Rudimentary TSV to CSV

The following program transforms tab-separated standard input into comma-separated standard output. The program does not handle more complex cases like quoting and is not standards-compliant:

tabToComma :: Char -> Char
tabToComma '\t' = ','
tabToComma  c   = c

main = interact (map tabToComma)

Example usage:

$ cat file.tsv
1   2   3
4   5   6
$ cat file.tsv | runghc tsv2csv.hs
1,2,3
4,5,6

Example #3 - Calendar

This program prints a calendar for 2015

data DayOfWeek
    = Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday
    deriving (Eq, Enum, Bounded)

data Month
    = January | February | March     | April   | May      | June
    | July    | August   | September | October | November | December
    deriving (Enum, Bounded, Show)

next :: (Eq a, Enum a, Bounded a) => a -> a
next x | x == maxBound = minBound
       | otherwise     = succ x

pad :: Int -> String
pad day = case show day of
    [c] -> [' ', c]
    cs  -> cs

month :: Month -> DayOfWeek -> Int -> String
month m startDay maxDay = show m ++ " 2015\n" ++ week ++ spaces Sunday
  where
    week = "Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa\n"

    spaces currDay | startDay == currDay = days startDay 1
                   | otherwise           = "   " ++ spaces (next currDay)

    days Sunday    n | n > maxDay = "\n"
    days _         n | n > maxDay = "\n\n"
    days Saturday  n              = pad n ++ "\n" ++ days  Sunday    (succ n)
    days day       n              = pad n ++ " "  ++ days (next day) (succ n)

year = month January   Thursday  31
    ++ month February  Sunday    28
    ++ month March     Sunday    31
    ++ month April     Wednesday 30
    ++ month May       Friday    31
    ++ month June      Monday    30
    ++ month July      Wednesday 31
    ++ month August    Saturday  31
    ++ month September Tuesday   30
    ++ month October   Thursday  31
    ++ month November  Sunday    30
    ++ month December  Tuesday   31

main = putStr year

Example usage:

$ runghc calendar.hs
January 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
             1  2  3
 4  5  6  7  8  9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

February 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7
 8  9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28

March 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7
 8  9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31 

April 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
          1  2  3  4
 5  6  7  8  9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 

May 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
                1  2
 3  4  5  6  7  8  9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 

June 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
    1  2  3  4  5  6
 7  8  9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 

July 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
          1  2  3  4
 5  6  7  8  9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31 

August 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
                   1
 2  3  4  5  6  7  8
 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31 

September 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
       1  2  3  4  5
 6  7  8  9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 

October 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
             1  2  3
 4  5  6  7  8  9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

November 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7
 8  9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 

December 2015
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
       1  2  3  4  5
 6  7  8  9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31 

Example #4 - Decode RNA

This program converts an RNA sequence read from standard input into the equivalent sequence of amino acids written to standard output, using the genetic code:

data RNA = A | U | C | G
    deriving (Read)

data AminoAcid
    = Ala | Cys | Asp | Glu | Phe | Gly | His | Ile | Lys | Leu
    | Met | Asn | Pro | Gln | Arg | Ser | Thr | Val | Trp | Tyr
    | Stop
    deriving (Show)

decode :: RNA -> RNA -> RNA -> AminoAcid 
decode U U U = Phe
decode U U C = Phe
decode U U A = Leu
decode U U G = Leu
decode U C _ = Ser
decode U A U = Tyr
decode U A C = Tyr
decode U A A = Stop
decode U A G = Stop
decode U G U = Cys
decode U G C = Cys
decode U G A = Stop
decode U G G = Trp
decode C U _ = Leu
decode C C _ = Pro
decode C A U = His
decode C A C = His
decode C A A = Gln
decode C A G = Gln
decode C G _ = Arg
decode A U U = Ile
decode A U C = Ile
decode A U A = Ile
decode A U G = Met
decode A C _ = Thr
decode A A U = Asn
decode A A C = Asn
decode A A A = Lys
decode A A G = Lys
decode A G U = Ser
decode A G C = Ser
decode A G A = Arg
decode A G G = Arg
decode G U _ = Val
decode G C _ = Ala
decode G A U = Asp
decode G A C = Asp
decode G A A = Glu
decode G A G = Glu
decode G G _ = Gly

decodeAll :: [RNA] -> [AminoAcid]
decodeAll (a:b:c:ds) = decode a b c : decodeAll ds
decodeAll  _         = []

main = do
    str <- getContents
    let rna :: [RNA]
        rna = map (\c -> read [c]) str

    let aminoAcids :: [AminoAcid]
        aminoAcids = decodeAll rna

    putStrLn (concatMap show aminoAcids)

Example usage:

$ echo "ACAUGUCAGUACGUAGCUAC" | runghc decode.hs
ThrCysGlnTyrValAlaThr

Example #5 - Bedtime story generator

This generates a "random" bedtime story:

stories :: [String]
stories = do
    let str0 = "There once was "

    str1 <- ["a princess ", "a cat ", "a little boy "]

    let str2 = "who lived in "

    str3 <- ["a shoe.", "a castle.", "an enchanted forest."]

    let str4 = "  They found a "

    str5 <- ["giant ", "frog ", "treasure chest " ]

    let str6 = "while "

    str7 <- ["when they got lost ", "while strolling along "]

    let str8 = "and immediately regretted it.  Then a "

    str9 <- ["lumberjack ", "wolf ", "magical pony "]

    let str10 = "named "

    str11 <- ["Pinkie Pie ", "Little John ", "Boris "]

    let str12 = "found them and "

    str13 <- ["saved the day.", "granted them three wishes."]

    let str14 = "  The end."

    return (  str0
           ++ str1
           ++ str2
           ++ str3
           ++ str4
           ++ str5
           ++ str6
           ++ str7
           ++ str8
           ++ str9
           ++ str10
           ++ str11
           ++ str12
           ++ str13
           ++ str14
           )

main = do
    let len = length stories
    putStrLn ("Enter a number from 0 to " ++ show (len - 1))
    n <- readLn
    putStrLn ""
    putStrLn (stories !! n)

Example usage:

$ runghc story.hs
Enter a number from 0 to 971
238

There once was a princess who lived in an enchanted forest.  They found a giant
while while strolling along and immediately regretted it.  Then a lumberjack
named Boris found them and saved the day.  The end.

Conclusion

If you would like to contribute a simple example of your own, try sharing a paste of your program under the #Haskell #BackToBasics hashtags.

23 comments:

  1. How about a Haskell version of https://www.ic.unicamp.br/~meidanis/courses/mc336/2006s2/funcional/L-99_Ninety-Nine_Lisp_Problems.html ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have a look at https://wiki.haskell.org/H-99:_Ninety-Nine_Haskell_Problems

      Delete
  2. I'm curious about the operational differences with the `splitOn` implementation at http://lpaste.net/142548 . Is it a matter of trading off stack space for heap space (or something like that)?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I believe you can replace "n' `seq` delete n' as" with "delete n' as", as "delete" is strict in its first argument.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great idea!

    Next step: Add a SYNOPSIS section to all Haskell-libraries, with an example of how to use the library (see CPAN).

    I can wish, can't I? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This post really puts the 'for all' in 'Haskell for all'.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post, Gabriel. :)

    I have a question about what's happening in #5: It would appear that `stories` is building a list of all possible combinations of the inner strings and lists. However, it's not clear to me where or why that's happening. Is that something that the List's monad's bind does implicitly?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's exactly equivalent to a list comprehension. Whenever you see:

      do x <- [a, b]; y <- [c, d]; return (f x y)

      ... translate it in your mind to:

      [ f x y | x <- [a, b], y <- [c, d] ]

      See also this post:

      http://www.haskellforall.com/2014/10/how-to-desugar-haskell-code.html

      Delete
    2. OK - that's helpful. Thanks!

      Delete
  7. Great example ideas! Thanks!

    Unfortunately, the code needs a lot of work before you want to show it to the public as examples of Haskell. Let's take the second problem, tabs-to-commas, as an example. Here's what I would write

    tabComma :: Char -> Char
    tabComma '\t' = ','
    tabComma c = c

    main :: IO ()
    main = interact (map tabComma)

    I think this is what your code does? However, it has some problems: you probably want to pay attention to quoting, escaping, etc. Might I humbly suggest that my own Text.SSV approach makes things better here?

    import Text.SSV

    tsvFormat :: SSVFormat
    tsvFormat = csvFormat { ssvFormatSeparator = '\t' }

    main :: IO ()
    main = interact (showCSV . readSSV tsvFormat)

    In addition to teaching people about the wonderful resource that is Hackage, this does a pretty reasonable job of actually doing TSV to CSV conversion, and can be further configured if requirements differ just by changing the description records.

    I'll try to find time to rewrite all the examples and put them on Github somewhere if you like. We should probably start a repo for these anyhow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So I like the first simplification of the CSV example, but I try to avoid imports because the purpose of the exercise is to do as much as possible without any imports or extensions.

      Delete
  8. Can you help me understand how to run the calendar example?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you have the Glasgow Haskell compiler (i.e. "ghc") installed, then you can save the example to a text file called "calendar.hs" and then run the following command at a command line:

      $ runghc calendar.hs

      You can find instructions for how to install the Haskell compiler and toolchain here:

      https://www.haskell.org/downloads

      Delete
    2. Thnak you, I solved that problem. Another problem I have is that I have chosen this program for a homework i have, but i don't really understand all the language. Is there a way to simplify the program or can i find some instruction/explanation to the terms used somewhere?

      Delete
  9. Your programs do lots of IO. I am searching for something simple that illustrates the beautiful, human-readable function composition to total newbies ^^

    ReplyDelete