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1 #+title: Calling it quits without parentheses
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2 #+author: Robert McIntyre & Dylan Holmes
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3 #+EMAIL: rlm@mit.edu
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4 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org
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5 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org
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6
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7
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8 [TABLE-OF-CONTENTS]
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9
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10 # * Calling it quits without parentheses
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11 Is it possible to make a =quit= command for Clojure such that simply
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12 typing the word =quit= at an REPL exits the REPL? An intuitive =quit=
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13 command would be especially useful for people new to Lisp syntax or
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14 the REPL; the challenge is to make a genuine Clojure command that
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15 executes without being called with parentheses. We found three
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16 solutions.
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17
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18 #+srcname: header
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19 #+begin_src clojure :results silent
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20 (ns abomination.no-parens
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21 (:use clojure.contrib.def))
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22 #+end_src
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23
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24 * By modifying =toString=
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25 #+srcname: toString
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26 #+begin_src clojure
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27 (in-ns 'abomination.no-parens)
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28 (gen-class :name abomination.no-parens.Quit
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29 :prefix quit-)
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30
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31 (defn quit-toString
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32 [this]
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33 (System/exit 0))
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34
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35
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36 (defvar quit (abomination.no-parens.Quit.)
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37 "a sneaky way to support a `quit` command")
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38 #+end_src
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39
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40 When you type any variable at the REPL, the REPL attempts to print it
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41 as a nicely-formatted string by calling its =toString= method. Our
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42 trick is to define a class with a =toString= method that exits the
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43 REPL; this trick ensures that any variable of that class will close
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44 the REPL when the REPL attempts to print it.
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45
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46 First, we use =gen-class= to make a new class named Quit; in that same
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47 line, we use =:prefix= to establish the convention that any function
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48 named =quit-[something]= will be adopted as the =[something]= method
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49 for the newly-defined Quit class. We use this convention to write our
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50 own =toString= method for Quit.
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51
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52 Next, we define a suitable =toString= method for the Quit class so
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53 that attempting to print an instance of the Quit class has the effect
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54 of closing the REPL. We do this by defining a function =quit-toString=
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55 which closes the REPL; by the convention established above, the Quit
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56 class automatically adopts =quit-toString= as its =toString= method.
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57
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58 Finally, we use =defvar= to create an instance of the Quit class; we
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59 name this instance =quit=. Now when you type =quit= into the REPL, the
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60 REPL executes the =toString= method of the Quit class, exiting the
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61 REPL instead of returning a string.
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62
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63 #+begin_src clojure :exports both
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64 (binding [*compile-path* "/home/r/proj/abomination/classes"]
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65 (compile 'abomination.no-parens))
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66
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67 #+end_src
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68
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69 #+results:
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70 : abomination.no-parens
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71
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72 * By wrapping the command in a lazy sequence
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73 #+srcname: lazy-seq
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74 #+begin_src clojure :results silent
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75 (in-ns 'abomination.no-parens)
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76 (defvar quit* (lazy-seq :the-great-bringer-of-death! (System/exit 0))
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77 "the first time it's evaulated it will kill the JVM")
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78 #+end_src
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79
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80 * By =delay=-ing the command
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81 #+srcname: delay
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82 #+begin_src clojure :results silent
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83 (in-ns 'abomination.no-parens)
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84 (defvar quit** (delay (System/exit 0))
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85 "when this is evaulated at the REPL, it will exit the JVM.")
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86 #+end_src
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87
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88 The same thing, accomplished in a much more elegant and clojureish
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89 way.
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90
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91 # STUD CRUFT PIZZA
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92
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93 #+begin_quote
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94 And death i think is no parenthesis
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95 \mdash{}E. E. Cummings
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96 #+end_quote
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97
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98
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99 * COMMENT code generation
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100 #+begin_src clojure :tangle ../src/abomination/no_parens.clj :results silent :exports none :noweb yes
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101 <<header>>
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102 <<toString>>
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103 <<lazy-seq>>
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104 <<delay>>
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105 #+end_src
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