Merge pull request #1513 from adelbertc/doc-functors

Revamp Functor, Applicative, Traverse doc

Author: adelbertc

docs/src/main/resources/microsite/data/menu.yml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 options:
 
-  ############################# 
+  #############################
   # Type Classes Menu Options #
   #############################
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ options:
     url: typeclasses/semigroup.html
     menu_type: typeclasses
     menu_section: semigroupsandmonoids
-    
+
     nested_options:
      - title: Semigroup
        url: typeclasses/semigroup.html
@@ -23,30 +23,27 @@ options:
        menu_section: semigroupsandmonoids
 
   - title: Applicative and Traversable Functors
-    url: typeclasses/functor.html
+    url: typeclasses/applicativetraverse.html
     menu_type: typeclasses
-    menu_section: aplicative
-    
+    menu_section: applicative
+
     nested_options:
      - title: Functor
        url: typeclasses/functor.html
-       menu_section: aplicative
-     - title: Apply
-       url: typeclasses/apply.html
-       menu_section: aplicative
+       menu_section: applicative
      - title: Applicative
        url: typeclasses/applicative.html
-       menu_section: aplicative
+       menu_section: applicative
      - title: Traverse
        url: typeclasses/traverse.html
        menu_type: typeclasses
-       menu_section: aplicative
+       menu_section: applicative
 
   - title: Monads
     url: typeclasses/functor.html
     menu_type: typeclasses
     menu_section: monads
-    
+
     nested_options:
      - title: Functor
        url: typeclasses/functor.html
@@ -66,7 +63,7 @@ options:
     url: typeclasses/functor.html
     menu_type: typeclasses
     menu_section: variance
-    
+
     nested_options:
      - title: Functor
        url: typeclasses/functor.html
@@ -102,7 +99,7 @@ options:
     url: typeclasses/show.html
     menu_type: typeclasses
 
-  ########################### 
+  ###########################
   # Data Types Menu Options #
   ###########################
 
@@ -144,4 +141,4 @@ options:
 
   - title: Validated
     url: datatypes/validated.html
-    menu_type: data
+    menu_type: data

docs/src/main/tut/typeclasses/applicative.md

@@ -6,45 +6,277 @@ source: "core/src/main/scala/cats/Applicative.scala"
 scaladoc: "#cats.Applicative"
 ---
 # Applicative
+`Applicative` extends [`Functor`](functor.html) with an `ap` and `pure` method.
 
-`Applicative` extends [`Apply`](apply.html) by adding a single method,
-`pure`:
+```tut:book:silent
+import cats.Functor
 
-```scala
-def pure[A](x: A): F[A]
-````
+trait Applicative[F[_]] extends Functor[F] {
+  def ap[A, B](ff: F[A => B])(fa: F[A]): F[B]
+
+  def pure[A](a: A): F[A]
+
+  def map[A, B](fa: F[A])(f: A => B): F[B] = ap(pure(f))(fa)
+}
+```
+
+`pure` wraps the value into the type constructor - for `Option` this could be `Some(_)`, for `Future`
+`Future.successful`, and for `List` a singleton list.
+
+`ap` is a bit tricky to explain and motivate, so we'll look at an alternative but equivalent
+formulation via `product`.
+
+```tut:book:silent
+trait Applicative[F[_]] extends Functor[F] {
+  def product[A, B](fa: F[A], fb: F[B]): F[(A, B)]
+
+  def pure[A](a: A): F[A]
+}
+
+// Example implementation for right-biased Either
+implicit def applicativeForEither[L]: Applicative[Either[L, ?]] = new Applicative[Either[L, ?]] {
+  def product[A, B](fa: Either[L, A], fb: Either[L, B]): Either[L, (A, B)] = (fa, fb) match {
+    case (Right(a), Right(b)) => Right((a, b))
+    case (Left(l) , _       ) => Left(l)
+    case (_       , Left(l) ) => Left(l)
+  }
+
+  def pure[A](a: A): Either[L, A] = Right(a)
+
+  def map[A, B](fa: Either[L, A])(f: A => B): Either[L, B] = fa match {
+    case Right(a) => Right(f(a))
+    case Left(l)  => Left(l)
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Note that in this formulation `map` is left abstract, whereas in the previous one with `ap` `map`
+could be implemented in terms of `ap` and `pure`. This suggests that `ap` is equivalent to
+`map` and `product`, which is indeed the case.
+
+Such an `Applicative` must obey three laws:
+
+* Associativity: No matter the order in which you product together three values, the result is isomorphic
+    * `fa.product(fb).product(fc) ~ fa.product(fb.product(fc))`
+    * With `map`, this can be made into an equality with `fa.product(fb).product(fc) = fa.product(fb.product(fc)).map { case (a, (b, c)) => ((a, b), c) }`
+* Left identity: Zipping a value on the left with unit results in something isomorphic to the original value
+    * `pure(()).product(fa) ~ fa`
+    * As an equality: `pure(()).product(fa).map(_._2) = fa`
+* Right identity: Zipping a value on the right with unit results in something isomorphic to the original value
+    * `fa.product(pure(())) ~ fa`
+    * As an equality: `fa.product(pure(())).map(_._1) = fa`
+
+## Applicatives for effect management
+
+If we view `Functor` as the ability to work with a single effect, `Applicative` encodes working with
+multiple **independent** effects. Between `product` and `map`, we can take two separate effectful values
+and compose them. From there we can generalize to working with any N number of independent effects.
+
+```tut:reset:book:silent
+import cats.Applicative
+
+def product3[F[_]: Applicative, A, B, C](fa: F[A], fb: F[B], fc: F[C]): F[(A, B, C)] = {
+  val F = Applicative[F]
+  val fabc = F.product(F.product(fa, fb), fc)
+  F.map(fabc) { case ((a, b), c) => (a, b, c) }
+}
+```
+
+## What is ap?
+
+Let's see what happens if we try to compose two effectful values with just `map`.
+
+```tut:book:silent
+import cats.instances.option._
+
+val f: (Int, Char) => Double = (i, c) => (i + c).toDouble
+
+val int: Option[Int] = Some(5)
+val char: Option[Char] = Some('a')
+```
+
+```tut:book
+int.map(i => (c: Char) => f(i, c)) // what now?
+```
+
+We have an `Option[Char => Double]` and an `Option[Double]` to which we want to apply the function to,
+but `map` doesn't give us enough power to do that. Hence, `ap`.
+
+## Applicatives compose
+
+Like [`Functor`](functor.html), `Applicative`s compose. If `F` and `G` have `Applicative` instances, then so
+does `F[G[_]]`.
+
+```tut:book:silent
+import cats.data.Nested
+import cats.instances.future._
+import scala.concurrent.Future
+import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global
+
+val x: Future[Option[Int]] = Future.successful(Some(5))
+val y: Future[Option[Char]] = Future.successful(Some('a'))
+```
+
+```tut:book
+val composed = Applicative[Future].compose[Option].map2(x, y)(_ + _)
+
+val nested = Applicative[Nested[Future, Option, ?]].map2(Nested(x), Nested(y))(_ + _)
+```
+
+## Traverse
+
+The straightforward way to use `product` and `map` (or just `ap`) is to compose `n` independent effects,
+where `n` is a fixed number. In fact there are convenience methods named `apN`, `mapN`, and `tupleN` (replacing
+`N` with a number 2 - 22) to make it even easier.
+
+Imagine we have one `Option` representing a username, one representing a password, and another representing
+a URL for logging into a database.
+
+```tut:book:silent
+import java.sql.Connection
+
+val username: Option[String] = Some("username")
+val password: Option[String] = Some("password")
+val url: Option[String] = Some("some.login.url.here")
+
+// Stub for demonstration purposes
+def attemptConnect(username: String, password: String, url: String): Option[Connection] = None
+```
 
-This method takes any value and returns the value in the context of
-the functor. For many familiar functors, how to do this is
-obvious. For `Option`, the `pure` operation wraps the value in
-`Some`. For `List`, the `pure` operation returns a single element
-`List`:
+We know statically we have 3 `Option`s, so we can use `map3` specifically.
 
 ```tut:book
-import cats._
+Applicative[Option].map3(username, password, url)(attemptConnect)
+```
+
+Sometimes we don't know how many effects will be in play - perhaps we are receiving a list from user
+input or getting rows from a database. This implies the need for a function:
+
+```tut:book:silent
+def sequenceOption[A](fa: List[Option[A]]): Option[List[A]] = ???
+
+// Alternatively..
+def traverseOption[A, B](as: List[A])(f: A => Option[B]): Option[List[B]] = ???
+```
+
+Users of the standard library `Future.sequence` or `Future.traverse` will find these names and signatures
+familiar.
+
+Let's implement `traverseOption` (you can implement `sequenceOption` in terms of `traverseOption`).
+
+```tut:book:silent
+def traverseOption[A, B](as: List[A])(f: A => Option[B]): Option[List[B]] =
+  as.foldRight(Some(List.empty[B]): Option[List[B]]) { (a: A, acc: Option[List[B]]) =>
+    val optB: Option[B] = f(a)
+    // optB and acc are independent effects so we can use Applicative to compose
+    Applicative[Option].map2(optB, acc)(_ :: _)
+  }
+```
+
+```tut:book
+traverseOption(List(1, 2, 3))(i => Some(i): Option[Int])
+```
+
+This works...but if we look carefully at the implementation there's nothing `Option`-specific going on. As
+another example let's implement the same function but for `Either`.
+
+```tut:book:silent
+import cats.instances.either._
+
+def traverseEither[E, A, B](as: List[A])(f: A => Either[E, B]): Either[E, List[B]] =
+  as.foldRight(Right(List.empty[B]): Either[E, List[B]]) { (a: A, acc: Either[E, List[B]]) =>
+    val eitherB: Either[E, B] = f(a)
+    Applicative[Either[E, ?]].map2(eitherB, acc)(_ :: _)
+  }
+```
+
+```tut:book
+traverseEither(List(1, 2, 3))(i => if (i % 2 != 0) Left(s"${i} is not even") else Right(i / 2))
+```
+
+The implementation of `traverseOption` and `traverseEither` are more or less identical, modulo the initial
+"accumulator" to `foldRight`. But even that could be made the same by delegating to `Applicative#pure`!
+Generalizing `Option` and `Either` to any `F[_]: Applicative` gives us the fully polymorphic version.
+Existing data types with `Applicative` instances (`Future`, `Option`, `Either[E, ?]`, `Try`) can call it by fixing `F`
+appropriately, and new data types need only be concerned with implementing `Applicative` to do so as well.
+
+```tut:book:silent
+def traverse[F[_]: Applicative, A, B](as: List[A])(f: A => F[B]): F[List[B]] =
+  as.foldRight(Applicative[F].pure(List.empty[B])) { (a: A, acc: F[List[B]]) =>
+    val fb: F[B] = f(a)
+    Applicative[F].map2(fb, acc)(_ :: _)
+  }
+```
+
+This function is provided by Cats via the `Traverse[List]` instance and syntax, which is covered in another
+tutorial.
+
+```tut:book:silent
+import cats.instances.list._
+import cats.syntax.traverse._
+```
+
+```tut:book
+List(1, 2, 3).traverse(i => Some(i): Option[Int])
+```
+
+With this addition of `traverse`, we can now compose any number of independent effects, statically known or otherwise.
+
+## Apply - a weakened Applicative
+A closely related type class is `Apply` which is identical to `Applicative`, modulo the `pure`
+method. Indeed in Cats `Applicative` is a subclass of `Apply` with the addition of this method.
+
+```scala
+trait Apply[F[_]] extends Functor[F] {
+  def ap[A, B](ff: F[A => B])(fa: F[A]): F[B]
+}
+
+trait Applicative[F[_]] extends Apply[F] {
+  def pure[A](a: A): F[A]
+
+  def map[A, B](fa: F[A])(f: A => B): F[B] = ap(pure(f))(fa)
+}
+```
+
+The laws for `Apply` are just the laws of `Applicative` that don't mention `pure`. In the laws given
+above, the only law would be associativity.
+
+One of the motivations for `Apply`'s existence is that some types have `Apply` instances but not
+`Applicative` - one example is `Map[K, ?]`. Consider the behavior of `pure` for `Map[K, A]`. Given
+a value of type `A`, we need to associate some arbitrary `K` to it but we have no way of doing that.
+
+However, given existing `Map[K, A]` and `Map[K, B]` (or `Map[K, A => B]`), it is straightforward to
+pair up (or apply functions to) values with the same key. Hence `Map[K, ?]` has an `Apply` instance.
+
+## Syntax
+
+Syntax for `Applicative` (or `Apply`) is available under the `cats.implicits._` import. The most
+interesting syntax is focused on composing independent effects - there are two options for this.
+
+The first is the builder syntax which incrementally builds up a collection of effects until a
+function is applied to compose them.
+
+```tut:book:silent
 import cats.implicits._
 
-Applicative[Option].pure(1)
-Applicative[List].pure(1)
+val o1: Option[Int] = Some(42)
+val o2: Option[String] = Some("hello")
 ```
 
-Like [`Functor`](functor.html) and [`Apply`](apply.html), `Applicative`
-functors also compose naturally with each other. When
-you compose one `Applicative` with another, the resulting `pure`
-operation will lift the passed value into one context, and the result
-into the other context:
+```tut:book
+(o1 |@| o2).map((i: Int, s: String) => i.toString ++ s)
+(o1 |@| o2).tupled
+```
+
+The second expects the effects in a tuple and works by enriching syntax on top of the existing
+`TupleN` types.
 
 ```tut:book
-import cats.data.Nested
-val nested = Applicative[Nested[List, Option, ?]].pure(1)
-val unwrapped = nested.value
+(o1, o2).map2((i: Int, s: String) => i.toString ++ s)
 ```
 
-## Applicative Functors & Monads
+## Further Reading
 
-`Applicative` is a generalization of [`Monad`](monad.html), allowing expression
-of effectful computations in a pure functional way.
+* [Applicative Programming with Effects][applicativePaper] - McBride, Patterson. JFP 2008.
 
-`Applicative` is generally preferred to `Monad` when the structure of a
-computation is fixed a priori. That makes it possible to perform certain
-kinds of static analysis on applicative values.
+[applicativePaper]: http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/~ross/papers/Applicative.html "Applicative Programming with Effects"