Lambda Expressions Are Cool 2, C#

Lambda Expressions Are Cool 2

//Rextester.Program.Main is the entry point for your code. Don't change it.
//Compiler version 4.0.30319.17929 for Microsoft (R) .NET Framework 4.5

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;

namespace Rextester
{
    public class Program
    {
        delegate string Del(int pr);
        static string ExampleFunc(int prm)
        {
            return (prm + 1).ToString();
        }
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //...After learning some more C#, I'm back with my second version of "Lambda Expressions Are Cool".
            //This tutorial assumes you know C# generics.
            
            //Before we talk about Lambda Functions, we have to talk about delegates.
            //A delegate is a blueprint for a function that can be used as a type.
            //If you look above the Main method, you can see I declared a delegate function Del.
            //It's the blueprint for a function that takes in a single int parameter,
            //and returns a string. The signature, as it's called, would look like this:
            //(int)->string. This means a "Del" function is any function that also has
            //the signature (int)->string. So:
            Del exampleDel1 = ExampleFunc; //This works because ExampleFunc's signature matches Del's signature.
            Console.WriteLine(exampleDel1.Invoke(10)); //exampleDel1 can now be treated like a variable,
            Console.WriteLine(exampleDel1(10)); //but can be called like a function with .Invoke() or just ()
            
            //Microsoft provides generic delegates that will be used from now on: Func<> and Action<>.
            //In Func<>, the last type will always be the return type, and any other types will be parameters.
            //Action<> is the same, except the void return type.
            Func<int,string> exampleDel2 = ExampleFunc; //Func<int,string> = (int)->string, the same as Del.
            Console.WriteLine("Still {0}", exampleDel2(10));
            
            //Now, we could always declare a function regularly, but you'd need to declare a function
            //for every time you need to pass it in a parameter. However, there's another way to declare
            //a function that's inline, and it's the main basis for C#'s function programming: the Lambda Function.
            
            Func<int,string> exampleDel3 = prm => (prm + 1).ToString();
            //What does this mean!? Well, notice that it's using the same names and expression
            //as ExampleFunc. In fact, it's exactly the same in functionality as ExampleFunc.
            //exampleDels 1,2, and 3 are all the same. Let's break down the Lambda expression:
            
            //prm =>: => is the symbol to declare a lambda function, and prm is the name of the function parameter
            //(prm + 1).ToString(): The body of the function. If all you're doing in a lambda function is
            //a return expression, you don't need to put "return". Here's an example of a multi-line Lambda:
            Func<int,int,int> addAndSquare = (x,y) => { //(int,int)->int
                int z = x + y;
                return z * z;
            }; //This can be any function body.
            Console.WriteLine(addAndSquare(5,7));
            
            //So now that we know how to use Lambda Functions, let's use it practically: to map a function onto an array.
            int[] arrints = {0,1,2,3,4,5};
            string[] arrintstrs = arrints.Map(i => i.ToString() + "i"); //(int)->string
            Console.WriteLine(arrints.AsStr());
            Console.WriteLine(arrintstrs.AsStr());
            
            //We can also take the sum of arrints by using fold:
            int sum = arrints.Fold(0, (i,o) => i + o); //Just one line!! (int,int)->int
            //In fold, we take an initial value, then for each element in the array,
            //set the initial value to some function taking the array element (i) and the old value of the initial (o).
            Console.WriteLine("Sum: {0}", sum);
            //Like map, I can make Fold return any type:
            Console.WriteLine(arrints.Fold("", (i,o) => o + i)); //(int,string)->string
            
            //So, in summary, what is a Lambda Function? It's a way to declare an anonymous, inline
            //function that is very useful for quickly and efficiently passing in a delegate parameter.
            //Functions like Map and Fold are extremely useful in program clearness. Functional programming
            //is the next big innovation after Object Orientation, and Lambda Functions are C#'s implementation of it.
        }
    }
    static class Extn //Extension methods must be in a static class, so this is the class
    {
        public static Out[] Map<In,Out>(this In[] a, Func<In,Out> f)
        { //Takes in an array and applies a function to each of its elements.
            Out[] tor = new Out[a.Length];
            for(int x = 0; x < a.Length; x++) tor[x] = f(a[x]);
            return tor;
        }
        public static IEnumerable<Out> Map<In,Out>(this IEnumerable<In> a, Func<In,Out> f)
        { //Like map with array, but works with any IEnumerable.
            foreach(In i in a) yield return f(i);
        }
        public static Out Fold<In,Out>(this IEnumerable<In> a, Out initial, Func<In,Out,Out> f)
        { //"Folds" an IEnumerable into a single value
            Out o = initial;
            foreach(In i in a) o = f(i,o);
            return o;
        }
        public static string AsStr<T>(this IEnumerable<T> a)
        { //Represents the enumerable as a human-readable string
            string res = a.Fold("[", (i,o) => o + i + ", ");
            return res.Remove(res.Length-2) + "]";
        }
    }
}


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