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Where did Option[T] come from in Scala?

I'm still a noob in Scala development but I have found the Option[T] concept really awesome, specially the pattern matching when used with Some and None. I am even implementing it so some extent in a C# project I'm working on at the moment, but as there is no pattern matching in there is isn't really that awesome.

The real question is, where is the theory behind this object? is it something specific from Scala? Funcional languages? Where can I find more about it?

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Maurício Linhares Avatar asked Feb 06 '12 20:02

Maurício Linhares


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Why is option used in Scala?

Scala's Option is particularly useful because it enables management of optional values in two self-reinforcing ways: Type safety – We can parameterize our optional values. Functionally aware – The Option type also provides us with a set of powerful functional capabilities that aid in creating fewer bugs.

How does Option work in Scala?

The Option in Scala is referred to a carrier of single or no element for a stated type. When a method returns a value which can even be null then Option is utilized i.e, the method defined returns an instance of an Option, in place of returning a single object or a null.

What are the two subtypes of Scala's type option t?

An Option[T] can be either Some[T] or None object, which represents a missing value. For instance, the get method of Scala's Map produces Some(value) if a value corresponding to a given key has been found, or None if the given key is not defined in the Map.

Why might you choose to use option rather than using null in Scala?

In Scala, using null to represent nullable or missing values is an anti-pattern: use the type Option instead. The type Option ensures that you deal with both the presence and the absence of an element. Thanks to the Option type, you can make your system safer by avoiding nasty NullPointerException s at runtime.


2 Answers

Most of the time I was thinking that it comes from the Haskell, and has a name of Maybe monad

But after a little research, I've found that there was some references on option types in SML papers, as @ShiDoiSi said. Moreover, it has the same semantics (Some/None) that Scala has. The elderest paper I was able to find is that (circa '89) (see footnote on the 6th page)

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om-nom-nom Avatar answered Sep 21 '22 08:09

om-nom-nom


You don't need pattern-matching to use Option. I have written it in C# for you below. Note that the Fold function takes care of anything that would otherwise be pattern-matched.

Pattern-matching is generally discouraged in favour of higher-level combinators. For example, if your particular function can be written using Select you would use it rather than Fold (which is equivalent to pattern-matching). Otherwise, assuming side-effect free code (and therefore, equational reasoning), you would essentially be re-implementing existing code. This holds for all languages, not just Scala or C#.

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace Example {
  /// <summary>
  /// An immutable list with a maximum length of 1.
  /// </summary>
  /// <typeparam name="A">The element type held by this homogenous structure.</typeparam>
  /// <remarks>This data type is also used in place of a nullable type.</remarks>
  public struct Option<A> : IEnumerable<A> {
    private readonly bool e;
    private readonly A a;

    private Option(bool e, A a) {
      this.e = e;
      this.a = a;
    }

    public bool IsEmpty {
      get {
        return e;
      }
    }

    public bool IsNotEmpty{
      get {
        return !e;
      }
    }

    public X Fold<X>(Func<A, X> some, Func<X> empty) {
      return IsEmpty ? empty() : some(a);
    }

    public void ForEach(Action<A> a) {
      foreach(A x in this) {
        a(x);
      }
    }

    public Option<A> Where(Func<A, bool> p) {
      var t = this;
      return Fold(a => p(a) ? t : Empty, () => Empty);
    }

    public A ValueOr(Func<A> or) {
      return IsEmpty ? or() : a;
    }

    public Option<A> OrElse(Func<Option<A>> o) {
      return IsEmpty ? o() : this;
    }

    public bool All(Func<A, bool> f) {
      return IsEmpty || f(a);
    }

    public bool Any(Func<A, bool> f) {
      return !IsEmpty && f(a);
    }

    private A Value {
      get {
        if(e)
          throw new Exception("Value on empty Option");
        else
          return a;
      }
    }

    private class OptionEnumerator : IEnumerator<A> {
      private bool z = true;
      private readonly Option<A> o;
      private Option<A> a;

      internal OptionEnumerator(Option<A> o) {
        this.o = o;
      }

      public void Dispose() {}

      public void Reset() {
        z = true;
      }

      public bool MoveNext() {
        if(z) {
          a = o;
          z = false;
        } else
          a = Option<A>.Empty;

        return !a.IsEmpty;
      }

      A IEnumerator<A>.Current {
        get {
          return o.Value;
        }
      }

      public object Current {
        get {
          return o.Value;
        }
      }
    }

    private OptionEnumerator Enumerate() {
      return new OptionEnumerator(this);
    }

    IEnumerator<A> IEnumerable<A>.GetEnumerator() {
      return Enumerate();
    }

    IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() {
      return Enumerate();
    }

    public static Option<A> Empty {
      get {
        return new Option<A>(true, default(A));
      }
    }

    public static Option<A> Some(A t) {
      return new Option<A>(false, t);
    }
  }
}
like image 45
Tony Morris Avatar answered Sep 20 '22 08:09

Tony Morris