1List::UtilsBy(3)      User Contributed Perl Documentation     List::UtilsBy(3)
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NAME

6       "List::UtilsBy" - higher-order list utility functions
7

SYNOPSIS

9          use List::UtilsBy qw( nsort_by min_by );
10
11          use File::stat qw( stat );
12          my @files_by_age = nsort_by { stat($_)->mtime } @files;
13
14          my $shortest_name = min_by { length } @names;
15

DESCRIPTION

17       This module provides a number of list utility functions, all of which
18       take an initial code block to control their behaviour. They are
19       variations on similar core perl or "List::Util" functions of similar
20       names, but which use the block to control their behaviour. For example,
21       the core Perl function "sort" takes a list of values and returns them,
22       sorted into order by their string value.  The "sort_by" function sorts
23       them according to the string value returned by the extra function, when
24       given each value.
25
26          my @names_sorted = sort @names;
27
28          my @people_sorted = sort_by { $_->name } @people;
29

FUNCTIONS

31       All functions added since version 0.04 unless otherwise stated, as the
32       original names for earlier versions were renamed.
33
34   sort_by
35          @vals = sort_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
36
37       Returns the list of values sorted according to the string values
38       returned by the "KEYFUNC" block or function. A typical use of this may
39       be to sort objects according to the string value of some accessor, such
40       as
41
42          sort_by { $_->name } @people
43
44       The key function is called in scalar context, being passed each value
45       in turn as both $_ and the only argument in the parameters, @_. The
46       values are then sorted according to string comparisons on the values
47       returned.
48
49       This is equivalent to
50
51          sort { $a->name cmp $b->name } @people
52
53       except that it guarantees the "name" accessor will be executed only
54       once per value.
55
56       One interesting use-case is to sort strings which may have numbers
57       embedded in them "naturally", rather than lexically.
58
59          sort_by { s/(\d+)/sprintf "%09d", $1/eg; $_ } @strings
60
61       This sorts strings by generating sort keys which zero-pad the embedded
62       numbers to some level (9 digits in this case), helping to ensure the
63       lexical sort puts them in the correct order.
64
65   nsort_by
66          @vals = nsort_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
67
68       Similar to "sort_by" but compares its key values numerically.
69
70   rev_sort_by
71   rev_nsort_by
72          @vals = rev_sort_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
73
74          @vals = rev_nsort_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
75
76       Since version 0.06.
77
78       Similar to "sort_by" and "nsort_by" but returns the list in the reverse
79       order. Equivalent to
80
81          @vals = reverse sort_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
82
83       except that these functions are slightly more efficient because they
84       avoid the final "reverse" operation.
85
86   max_by
87          $optimal = max_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
88
89          @optimal = max_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
90
91       Returns the (first) value from @vals that gives the numerically largest
92       result from the key function.
93
94          my $tallest = max_by { $_->height } @people
95
96          use File::stat qw( stat );
97          my $newest = max_by { stat($_)->mtime } @files;
98
99       In scalar context, the first maximal value is returned. In list
100       context, a list of all the maximal values is returned. This may be used
101       to obtain positions other than the first, if order is significant.
102
103       If called on an empty list, an empty list is returned.
104
105       For symmetry with the "nsort_by" function, this is also provided under
106       the name "nmax_by" since it behaves numerically.
107
108   min_by
109          $optimal = min_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
110
111          @optimal = min_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
112
113       Similar to "max_by" but returns values which give the numerically
114       smallest result from the key function. Also provided as "nmin_by"
115
116   minmax_by
117          ( $minimal, $maximal ) = minmax_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
118
119       Since version 0.11.
120
121       Similar to calling both "min_by" and "max_by" with the same key
122       function on the same list. This version is more efficient than calling
123       the two other functions individually, as it has less work to perform
124       overall. In the case of ties, only the first optimal element found in
125       each case is returned. Also provided as "nminmax_by".
126
127   uniq_by
128          @vals = uniq_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
129
130       Returns a list of the subset of values for which the key function block
131       returns unique values. The first value yielding a particular key is
132       chosen, subsequent values are rejected.
133
134          my @some_fruit = uniq_by { $_->colour } @fruit;
135
136       To select instead the last value per key, reverse the input list. If
137       the order of the results is significant, don't forget to reverse the
138       result as well:
139
140          my @some_fruit = reverse uniq_by { $_->colour } reverse @fruit;
141
142       Because the values returned by the key function are used as hash keys,
143       they ought to either be strings, or at least well-behaved as strings
144       (such as numbers, or object references which overload stringification
145       in a suitable manner).
146
147   partition_by
148          %parts = partition_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
149
150       Returns a key/value list of ARRAY refs containing all the original
151       values distributed according to the result of the key function block.
152       Each value will be an ARRAY ref containing all the values which
153       returned the string from the key function, in their original order.
154
155          my %balls_by_colour = partition_by { $_->colour } @balls;
156
157       Because the values returned by the key function are used as hash keys,
158       they ought to either be strings, or at least well-behaved as strings
159       (such as numbers, or object references which overload stringification
160       in a suitable manner).
161
162   count_by
163          %counts = count_by { KEYFUNC } @vals
164
165       Since version 0.07.
166
167       Returns a key/value list of integers, giving the number of times the
168       key function block returned the key, for each value in the list.
169
170          my %count_of_balls = count_by { $_->colour } @balls;
171
172       Because the values returned by the key function are used as hash keys,
173       they ought to either be strings, or at least well-behaved as strings
174       (such as numbers, or object references which overload stringification
175       in a suitable manner).
176
177   zip_by
178          @vals = zip_by { ITEMFUNC } \@arr0, \@arr1, \@arr2,...
179
180       Returns a list of each of the values returned by the function block,
181       when invoked with values from across each each of the given ARRAY
182       references. Each value in the returned list will be the result of the
183       function having been invoked with arguments at that position, from
184       across each of the arrays given.
185
186          my @transposition = zip_by { [ @_ ] } @matrix;
187
188          my @names = zip_by { "$_[1], $_[0]" } \@firstnames, \@surnames;
189
190          print zip_by { "$_[0] => $_[1]\n" } [ keys %hash ], [ values %hash ];
191
192       If some of the arrays are shorter than others, the function will behave
193       as if they had "undef" in the trailing positions. The following two
194       lines are equivalent:
195
196          zip_by { f(@_) } [ 1, 2, 3 ], [ "a", "b" ]
197          f( 1, "a" ), f( 2, "b" ), f( 3, undef )
198
199       The item function is called by "map", so if it returns a list, the
200       entire list is included in the result. This can be useful for example,
201       for generating a hash from two separate lists of keys and values
202
203          my %nums = zip_by { @_ } [qw( one two three )], [ 1, 2, 3 ];
204          # %nums = ( one => 1, two => 2, three => 3 )
205
206       (A function having this behaviour is sometimes called "zipWith", e.g.
207       in Haskell, but that name would not fit the naming scheme used by this
208       module).
209
210   unzip_by
211          $arr0, $arr1, $arr2, ... = unzip_by { ITEMFUNC } @vals
212
213       Since version 0.09.
214
215       Returns a list of ARRAY references containing the values returned by
216       the function block, when invoked for each of the values given in the
217       input list.  Each of the returned ARRAY references will contain the
218       values returned at that corresponding position by the function block.
219       That is, the first returned ARRAY reference will contain all the values
220       returned in the first position by the function block, the second will
221       contain all the values from the second position, and so on.
222
223          my ( $firstnames, $lastnames ) = unzip_by { m/^(.*?) (.*)$/ } @names;
224
225       If the function returns lists of differing lengths, the result will be
226       padded with "undef" in the missing elements.
227
228       This function is an inverse of "zip_by", if given a corresponding
229       inverse function.
230
231   extract_by
232          @vals = extract_by { SELECTFUNC } @arr
233
234       Since version 0.05.
235
236       Removes elements from the referenced array on which the selection
237       function returns true, and returns a list containing those elements.
238       This function is similar to "grep", except that it modifies the
239       referenced array to remove the selected values from it, leaving only
240       the unselected ones.
241
242          my @red_balls = extract_by { $_->color eq "red" } @balls;
243
244          # Now there are no red balls in the @balls array
245
246       This function modifies a real array, unlike most of the other functions
247       in this module. Because of this, it requires a real array, not just a
248       list.
249
250       This function is implemented by invoking "splice" on the array, not by
251       constructing a new list and assigning it. One result of this is that
252       weak references will not be disturbed.
253
254          extract_by { !defined $_ } @refs;
255
256       will leave weak references weakened in the @refs array, whereas
257
258          @refs = grep { defined $_ } @refs;
259
260       will strengthen them all again.
261
262   extract_first_by
263          $val = extract_first_by { SELECTFUNC } @arr
264
265       Since version 0.10.
266
267       A hybrid between "extract_by" and "List::Util::first". Removes the
268       first element from the referenced array on which the selection function
269       returns true, returning it.
270
271       As with "extract_by", this function requires a real array and not just
272       a list, and is also implemented using "splice" so that weak references
273       are not disturbed.
274
275       If this function fails to find a matching element, it will return an
276       empty list in list context. This allows a caller to distinguish the
277       case between no matching element, and the first matching element being
278       "undef".
279
280   weighted_shuffle_by
281          @vals = weighted_shuffle_by { WEIGHTFUNC } @vals
282
283       Since version 0.07.
284
285       Returns the list of values shuffled into a random order. The
286       randomisation is not uniform, but weighted by the value returned by the
287       "WEIGHTFUNC". The probabilty of each item being returned first will be
288       distributed with the distribution of the weights, and so on recursively
289       for the remaining items.
290
291   bundle_by
292          @vals = bundle_by { BLOCKFUNC } $number, @vals
293
294       Since version 0.07.
295
296       Similar to a regular "map" functional, returns a list of the values
297       returned by "BLOCKFUNC". Values from the input list are given to the
298       block function in bundles of $number.
299
300       If given a list of values whose length does not evenly divide by
301       $number, the final call will be passed fewer elements than the others.
302

TODO

304       •   XS implementations
305
306           These functions are currently all written in pure perl. Some at
307           least, may benefit from having XS implementations to speed up their
308           logic.
309
310       •   Merge into List::Util or List::MoreUtils
311
312           This module shouldn't really exist. The functions should instead be
313           part of one of the existing modules that already contain many list
314           utility functions.  Having Yet Another List Utilty Module just
315           worsens the problem.
316
317           I have attempted to contact the authors of both of the above
318           modules, to no avail; therefore I decided it best to write and
319           release this code here anyway so that it is at least on CPAN. Once
320           there, we can then see how best to merge it into an existing
321           module.
322
323           Updated 2015/07/16: As I am now the maintainer of List::Util, some
324           amount of merging/copying should be possible. However, given the
325           latter's key position in the core perl distribution and head of the
326           "CPAN River" I am keen not to do this wholesale, but a selected
327           pick of what seems best, by a popular consensus.
328
329       •   "head" and "tail"-like functions
330
331           Consider perhaps
332
333              head_before { COND } LIST  # excludes terminating element
334              head_upto   { COND } LIST  # includes terminating element
335
336              tail_since  { COND } LIST  # includes initiating element
337              tail_after  { COND } LIST  # excludes initiating element
338
339           (See also <https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=105907>).
340

AUTHOR

342       Paul Evans <leonerd@leonerd.org.uk>
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345
346perl v5.32.1                      2021-01-27                  List::UtilsBy(3)
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