As an armadillo new-be, it seems like return types are hard to find in the documentation. Specifically, whether a rowvec(vector_of_indices) operation return another rowvec, or a (col)vec??
uvec indx;
rowvec c;
What class is c(indx) ?
rowvec is actually a convenience class for Row<double>[Armadillo Row doc ] and indexing it returns a subview of the same class [Armadillo submat doc ]
The return values are not always stated in the documentation but it usually has some nice examples to give you a hint.
Related
This method works, but I'm sure the performance could be greatly improved. Also, I'm realizing how fun and awesome it is to take smelly code like this, and rubify it. But I need a little more help to get my Ruby skills to the level to refactor something like this.
An objective can have "preassign" objectives. These are pre-requisites that must be completed before the a student can try the objective in question.
ObjectiveStudent is the join model between an objective and a student. It has a method called "points_all_time" that finds the student's best score on that objective.
The check_if_ready method is the one that I'm trying to refactor in this question. It also belong to the ObjectiveStudent model.
It needs to check whether the student has passed ALL of the preassigns for a given objective. If so, return true. Return false if the student has a less-than-passing score on any of the preassigns.
def check_if_ready
self.objective.preassigns.each do |preassign|
obj_stud = self.user.objective_students.find_by(objective_id: preassign.id)
return false if obj_stud.points_all_time < 7
end
return true
end
Right now I suspect this method is making too many calls to the database. What I'm really hoping to find is some way to look at the scores for the pre-reqs with a single db call.
Thank you in advance for any insight.
The following should work for you:
def is_ready?
user.objective_students
.where(objective_id: objective.preassigns.select(:id))
.none? { |obj_stud| obj_stud.points_all_time < 7 }
end
We collect all the objective_students for the user where the objective_id is in the list of objective.preassigns ids. This results in one 1 query being executed.
Then we use Enumerable#none? to make sure that none of the objective_students have points_all_time less than 7.
You could also use the inverse .all? { |obj_stud| obj_stud.points_all_time >= 7 } if you wanted
One way you could "rubify" this method is to rewrite the signature as:
def is_ready?
It is common practice to append ? to functions that return a boolean value in Ruby. (Note: I also don't really see a reason to have the word 'check' in the declaration, but that's just an opinion).
Furthermore, if objective_id is the primary key for the objective_students model, you can simply write objective_students.find(preassign.id) instead of the find_by method.
I would also suggest having a separate method for returning a student's points (especially since I suspect you will need to get a student's points more than just once) :
def getPoints(preAssignId)
return self.user.objective_students.find_by(objective_id: preAssignId).points_all_time
end
Then your main method can be written in a more clear, self-describing manner as:
def is_ready?
self.objective.preassigns.each {|preassign| return false if getPoints(preassign) < 7 }
return true
end
I have recently run into a problem which has had me thinking in circles. Assume that I have an object of type O with properties O.A and O.B. Also assume that I have a collection of instances of type O, where O.A and O.B are defined for each instance.
Now assume that I need to perform some operation (like sorting) on a collection of O instances using either O.A or O.B, but not both at any given time. My original solution is as follows.
Example -- just for demonstration, not production code:
public class O {
int A;
int B;
}
public static class Utils {
public static void SortByA (O[] collection) {
// Sort the objects in the collection using O.A as the key. Note: this is custom sorting logic, so it is not simply a one-line call to a built-in sort method.
}
public static void SortByB (O[] collection) {
// Sort the objects in the collection using O.B as the key. Same logic as above.
}
}
What I would love to do is this...
public static void SortAgnostic (O[] collection, FieldRepresentation x /* some non-bool, non-int variable representing whether to chose O.A or O.B as the sorting key */) {
// Sort by whatever "x" represents...
}
... but creating a new, highly-specific type that I will have to maintain just to avoid duplicating a few lines of code seems unnecessary to me. Perhaps I am incorrect on that (and I am sure someone will correct me if that statement is wrong :D), but that is my current thought nonetheless.
Question: What is the best way to implement this method? The logic that I have to implement is difficult to break down into smaller methods, as it is already fairly optimized. At the root of the issue is the fact that I need to perform the same operation using different properties of an object. I would like to stay away from using codes/flags/etc. in the method signature if possible so that the solution can be as robust as possible.
Note: When answering this question, please approach it from an algorithmic point of view. I am aware that some language-specific features may be suitable alternatives, but I have encountered this problem before and would like to understand it from a relatively language-agnostic viewpoint. Also, please do not constrain responses to sorting solutions only, as I have only chosen it as an example. The real question is how to avoid code duplication when performing an identical operation on two different properties of an object.
"The real question is how to avoid code duplication when performing an identical operation on two different properties of an object."
This is a very good question as this situation arises all the time. I think, one of the best ways to deal with this situation is to use the following pattern.
public class O {
int A;
int B;
}
public doOperationX1() {
doOperationX(something to indicate which property to use);
}
public doOperationX2() {
doOperationX(something to indicate which property to use);
}
private doOperationX(input ) {
// actual work is done here
}
In this pattern, the actual implementation is performed in a private method, which is called by public methods, with some extra information. For example, in this case, it can be
doOperationX(A), or doOperationX(B), or something like that.
My Reasoning: In my opinion this pattern is optimal as it achieves two main requirements:
It keeps the public interface descriptive and clear, as it keeps operations separate, and avoids flags etc that you also mentioned in your post. This is good for the client.
From the implementation perspective, it prevents duplication, as it is in one place. This is good for the development.
A simple way to approach this I think is to internalize the behavior of choosing the sort field to the class O itself. This way the solution can be language-agnostic.
The implementation in Java could be using an Abstract class for O, where the purpose of the abstract method getSortField() would be to return the field to sort by. All that the invocation logic would need to do is to implement the abstract method to return the desired field.
O o = new O() {
public int getSortField() {
return A;
}
};
The problem might be reduced to obtaining the value of the specified field from the given object so it can be use for sorting purposes, or,
TField getValue(TEntity entity, string fieldName)
{
// Return value of field "A" from entity,
// implementation depends on language of choice, possibly with
// some sort of reflection support
}
This method can be used to substitute comparisons within the sorting algorithm,
if (getValue(o[i], "A")) > getValue(o[j], "A"))
{
swap(i, j);
}
The field name can then be parametrized, as,
public static void SortAgnostic (O[] collection, string fieldName)
{
if (getValue(collection[i], fieldName)) > getValue(collection[j], fieldName))
{
swap(i, j);
}
...
}
which you can use like SortAgnostic(collection, "A").
Some languages allow you to express the field in a more elegant way,
public static void SortAgnostic (O[] collection, Expression fieldExpression)
{
if (getValue(collection[i], fieldExpression)) >
getValue(collection[j], fieldExpression))
{
swap(i, j);
}
...
}
which you can use like SortAgnostic(collection, entity => entity.A).
And yet another option can be passing a pointer to a function which will return the value of the field needed,
public static void SortAgnostic (O[] collection, Function getValue)
{
if (getValue(collection[i])) > getValue(collection[j]))
{
swap(i, j);
}
...
}
which given a function,
TField getValueOfA(TEntity entity)
{
return entity.A;
}
and passing it like SortAgnostic(collection, getValueOfA).
"... but creating a new, highly-specific type that I will have to maintain just to avoid duplicating a few lines of code seems unnecessary to me"
That is why you should use available tools like frameworks or other typo of code libraries that provide you requested solution.
When some mechanism is common that mean it can be moved to higher level of abstraction. When you can not find proper solution try to create own one. Think about the result of operation as not part of class functionality. The sorting is only a feature, that why it should not be part of your class from the beginning. Try to keep class as simple as possible.
Do not worry premature about the sense of having something small just because it is small. Focus on the final usage of it. If you use very often one type of sorting just create a definition of it to reuse it. You do not have to necessary create a utill class and then call it. Sometimes the base functionality enclosed in utill class is fair enough.
I assume that you use Java:
In your case the wheal was already implemented in person of Collection#sort(List, Comparator).
To full fill it you could create a Enum type that implement Comparator interface with predefined sorting types.
I have a method drive that goes like this:
public double drive(double milesTraveled, double gasUsed)
{
gasInTank -= gasUsed;
return totalMiles += milesTraveled;
}
I know I can't return multiple values from a method, but that's kind of what I need to do because I need both of these values in my main method, and as it is now it's obviously only returning the one. I can't think of anything that would work. Sorry if this is a super beginner question. What can I do to get both values to return from the method?
You can return multiple value from a function. To do this You can use structure.
In the structure you can keep required field and can return structure variable after operation.
You can also make a class for the required field if You are using OOPS supporting language but Structure is best way.
In most languages you can only return a single value from a method. That single value could be a complex type, such as a struct, array or object.
Some languages also allow you to define output parameters or pass in pointers or references to outside storage locations. These kinds of parameters also allow you to return additional values from your method.
not sure, but can you take array of your values?
array[0]=gasInTank;
array[0] -= gasUsed;
array[1]=milesTraveled;
array[1] -= milesTraveled;
return array;
I am wondering if anyone can suggest me a design pattern or best way to code the below problem.
1) I have an array list of books like the below
list.add(new Book(title, author);
list.add(new Book(title1, author1);
and so on....
2) And now I would like to find all the books from the list by author
findByAuthor(String author) {
for(Book book : list){
if(book.getAuthor().equals(author)){
return book;
}
}
}
Like wise I have another method called findByTitle(). But, it would be same code except book.getAuthor() will have to be book.getTitle(). Everything will be same.
3) Now i can write a method which is generic to both methods like below;
findByBookProperty (String type, String propertyValue){
for(Book book : list)
if(type.equals("author") && book.getTitle().equals(propertyValue)){
return book;
} //another else if for author
//another else for another property
// if else repeats for all the required finder types...
}
}
4) The problem i have here is;
1. I dont want to use the nasty if/else condition for the finder types.
2. I want to know if there is any design pattern or better way to handle this if else or swich method.
Important note: I get the author name as a request parameter value in my spring controller method.
I appreciate your thoughts.
Use Commons-Collections' Predicates framework:
1) Construct a Predicate instance for each type of test.
2) Use CollectionUtils.select(), passing in the predicate you'd like to use for evaluating objects.
Another alternative is to use Commons-Collections' Transformation framework:
1) Write a Transformer for each type of property you'd like extracted/compared against.
2) Write a generic loop, accepting a Transformer instance as a parameter.
In the Lua language, I am able to define functions in a table with something such as
table = { myfunction = function(x) return x end }
I wondered if I can created methods this way, instead of having to do it like
function table:mymethod() ... end
I am fairly sure it is possible to add methods this way, but I am unsure of the proper name of this technique, and I cannot find it looking for "lua" and "methods" or such.
My intention is to pass a table to a function such as myfunction({data= stuff, name = returnedName, ?method?init() = stuff}).
Unfortunately I have tried several combinations with the colon method declaration but none of them is valid syntax.
So...anyone here happens to know?
Sure: table:method() is just syntactic sugar for table.method(self), but you have to take care of the self argument. If you do
tab={f=function(x)return x end }
then tab:f(x) won't work, as this actually is tab.f(tab,x) and thus will return tab instead of x.
You might take a look on the lua users wiki on object orientation or PiL chapter 16.