diff options
author | EuAndreh <eu@euandre.org> | 2025-04-18 02:17:12 -0300 |
---|---|---|
committer | EuAndreh <eu@euandre.org> | 2025-04-18 02:48:42 -0300 |
commit | 020c1e77489b772f854bb3288b9c8d2818a6bf9d (patch) | |
tree | 142aec725a52162a446ea7d947cb4347c9d573c9 /src/content/en/tils/2021/04/24/cl-generic-precedence.adoc | |
parent | Makefile: Remove security.txt.gz (diff) | |
download | euandre.org-020c1e77489b772f854bb3288b9c8d2818a6bf9d.tar.gz euandre.org-020c1e77489b772f854bb3288b9c8d2818a6bf9d.tar.xz |
git mv src/content/* src/content/en/
Diffstat (limited to 'src/content/en/tils/2021/04/24/cl-generic-precedence.adoc')
-rw-r--r-- | src/content/en/tils/2021/04/24/cl-generic-precedence.adoc | 149 |
1 files changed, 149 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/content/en/tils/2021/04/24/cl-generic-precedence.adoc b/src/content/en/tils/2021/04/24/cl-generic-precedence.adoc new file mode 100644 index 0000000..541afb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/en/tils/2021/04/24/cl-generic-precedence.adoc @@ -0,0 +1,149 @@ += Common Lisp argument precedence order parameterization of a generic function + +When CLOS dispatches a method, it picks the most specific method definition to +the argument list: + +[source,lisp] +---- + +* (defgeneric a-fn (x)) +#<STANDARD-GENERIC-FUNCTION A-FN (0) {5815ACB9}> + +* (defmethod a-fn (x) :default-method) +#<STANDARD-METHOD A-FN (T) {581DB535}> + +* (defmethod a-fn ((x number)) :a-number) +#<STANDARD-METHOD A-FN (NUMBER) {58241645}> + +* (defmethod a-fn ((x (eql 1))) :number-1) +#<STANDARD-METHOD A-FN ((EQL 1)) {582A7D75}> + +* (a-fn nil) +:DEFAULT-METHOD + +* (a-fn "1") +:DEFAULT-METHOD + +* (a-fn 0) +:A-NUMBER + +* (a-fn 1) +:NUMBER-1 +---- + +CLOS uses a similar logic when choosing the method from parent classes, when +multiple ones are available: + +[source,lisp] +---- +* (defclass class-a () ()) + +#<STANDARD-CLASS CLASS-A {583E0B25}> +* (defclass class-b () ()) + +#<STANDARD-CLASS CLASS-B {583E7F6D}> +* (defgeneric another-fn (obj)) + +#<STANDARD-GENERIC-FUNCTION ANOTHER-FN (0) {583DA749}> +* (defmethod another-fn ((obj class-a)) :class-a) +; Compiling LAMBDA (.PV-CELL. .NEXT-METHOD-CALL. OBJ): +; Compiling Top-Level Form: + +#<STANDARD-METHOD ANOTHER-FN (CLASS-A) {584523C5}> +* (defmethod another-fn ((obj class-b)) :class-b) +; Compiling LAMBDA (.PV-CELL. .NEXT-METHOD-CALL. OBJ): +; Compiling Top-Level Form: + +#<STANDARD-METHOD ANOTHER-FN (CLASS-B) {584B8895}> +---- + +Given the above definitions, when inheriting from `class-a` and `class-b`, the +order of inheritance matters: + +[source,lisp] +---- +* (defclass class-a-coming-first (class-a class-b) ()) +#<STANDARD-CLASS CLASS-A-COMING-FIRST {584BE6AD}> + +* (defclass class-b-coming-first (class-b class-a) ()) +#<STANDARD-CLASS CLASS-B-COMING-FIRST {584C744D}> + +* (another-fn (make-instance 'class-a-coming-first)) +:CLASS-A + +* (another-fn (make-instance 'class-b-coming-first)) +:CLASS-B +---- + +Combining the order of inheritance with generic functions with multiple +arguments, CLOS has to make a choice of how to pick a method given two competing +definitions, and its default strategy is prioritizing from left to right: + +[source,lisp] +---- +* (defgeneric yet-another-fn (obj1 obj2)) +#<STANDARD-GENERIC-FUNCTION YET-ANOTHER-FN (0) {584D9EC9}> + +* (defmethod yet-another-fn ((obj1 class-a) obj2) :first-arg-specialized) +#<STANDARD-METHOD YET-ANOTHER-FN (CLASS-A T) {5854269D}> + +* (defmethod yet-another-fn (obj1 (obj2 class-b)) :second-arg-specialized) +#<STANDARD-METHOD YET-ANOTHER-FN (T CLASS-B) {585AAAAD}> + +* (yet-another-fn (make-instance 'class-a) (make-instance 'class-b)) +:FIRST-ARG-SPECIALIZED +---- + +CLOS has to make a choice between the first and the second definition of +`yet-another-fn`, but its choice is just a heuristic. What if we want the +choice to be based on the second argument, instead of the first? + +For that, we use the `:argument-precedence-order` option when declaring a +generic function: + +[source,lisp] +---- +* (defgeneric yet-another-fn (obj1 obj2) (:argument-precedence-order obj2 obj1)) +#<STANDARD-GENERIC-FUNCTION YET-ANOTHER-FN (2) {584D9EC9}> + +* (yet-another-fn (make-instance 'class-a) (make-instance 'class-b)) +:SECOND-ARG-SPECIALIZED +---- + +I liked that the `:argument-precedence-order` option exists. We shouldn't have +to change the arguments from `(obj1 obj2)` to `(obj2 obj1)` just to make CLOS +pick the method that we want. We can configure its default behaviour if +desired, and keep the order of arguments however it best fits the generic +function. + +== Comparison with Clojure + +Clojure has an equivalent, when using `defmulti`. + +Since when declaring a multi-method with `defmulti` we must define the dispatch +function, Clojure uses it to pick the method definition. Since the dispatch +function is required, there is no need for a default behaviour, such as +left-to-right. + +== Conclusion + +Making the argument precedence order configurable for generic functions but not +for class definitions makes a lot of sense. + +When declaring a class, we can choose the precedence order, and that is about +it. But when defining a generic function, the order of arguments is more +important to the function semantics, and the argument precedence being +left-to-right is just the default behaviour. + +One shouldn't change the order of arguments of a generic function for the sake +of tailoring it to the CLOS priority ranking algorithm, but doing it for a class +definition is just fine. + +TIL. + +== References + +:clos-wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-Oriented_Programming_in_Common_Lisp + +. {clos-wiki}[Object-Oriented Programming in Common Lisp: A Programmer's Guide + to CLOS], by Sonja E. Keene |