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definition inside a for comprehension based on an Either fails to compile #5793

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scabug opened this issue May 13, 2012 · 5 comments
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@scabug
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scabug commented May 13, 2012

Including a definition in a for comprehension works if the comprehension is using Option, but the compiler complains about a for comprehension with Either (RightProjection).

Using for comprehensions makes for very readable code, and flowing though errors via Either seems like it ought to be the right thing to do.

Example:

def opt:Option[Char] = Some('e')
def f(c:Char):String = "ha"
def either:Either[Int,Char] = Right('r')

val optComprehensionWithAssignment:Option[Int] =
  for {
    c <- opt
    x = c.toInt
  } yield x

val eitherComprehensionNoAssignment:Either[Int,String] = 
  for { 
    c <- either.right
  } yield {
    val s = f(c)
    s
  }

val eitherComprehensionWithAssighment:Either[Int,String] = 
  for { 
    c <- either.right
    s = f(c)                // doesn't compile
  } yield s


val workaround:Either[Int,String] = 
  for { 
    c <- either.right
    s <- Right(f(c)).right       // workaround's a bit awkward
  } yield s
@scabug
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scabug commented May 13, 2012

Imported From: https://issues.scala-lang.org/browse/SI-5793?orig=1
Reporter: Lee Mighdoll (mighdoll)

@scabug
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scabug commented May 13, 2012

@retronym said:
You are essentially trying to call:

scala> either.right.map(x => x).map(x => x)
<console>:9: error: value map is not a member of Either[Int,Char] with Product with Serializable
              either.right.map(x => x).map(x => x)
                                       ^

But Either#RightProjection#map returns an Either, which doesn't have a map method.

You can enrich Either to have a right-biased set of map/flatMap/foreach methods, along these lines (I'm using Scala 2.10 implicit classes for brevity, but the same is possible in 2.9.x with a class and an implicit conversion):

scala> implicit class RightBiasedEither[A, B](val e: Either[A, B]) extends AnyVal {
     |   def foreach[U](f: B => U): Unit = e.right.foreach(f)
     |   def map[C](f: B => C): Either[A, C] = e.right.map(f)
     |   def flatMap[C](f: B => Either[A, C]) = e.right.flatMap(f)  
     | }
defined class RightBiasedEither

scala> 

scala> def f(c:Char):String = "ha"
f: (c: Char)String

scala> def either:Either[Int,Char] = Right('r')
either: Either[Int,Char]

scala>   for { 
     |     c <- either
     |     s = f(c)
     |   } yield s
res0: Either[Int,String] = Right(ha)

@scabug scabug closed this as completed May 13, 2012
@scabug
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scabug commented May 14, 2012

Lee Mighdoll (mighdoll) said:
Thanks Jason. That's very helpful. I understand the flaw in Either now. Your solution is nice both to explain and to try out.

That the stock unbiased Either requires a bit more syntax to use the RightProjection/LeftProjection is apparent from the api, but because of this design flaw it's hard to recommend Either.

Is there an open issue on fixing Either? Or a consensus that it's not fixable? Seems like the standard lib should get some combination of a fix, interim documentation, or a replacement.

@scabug
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scabug commented May 14, 2012

@retronym said:
I've started a discussion here:

https://groups.google.com/d/topic/scala-debate/K6wv6KphJK0/discussion

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scabug commented May 28, 2012

Rob Dickens (robcd) said:
Lee, Jason,

Have just come up with a version of Either which fixes this. Please would you take a look and let me know what you think:

http://robsscala.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/fixing-scalaeither-leftrightmap-returns.html

Cheers, Rob

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