Merge pull request #15 from seancorfield/what-if-transducers

what if we taught transducers first?

Author: timothypratley

notebooks/clojure/transducers/what_if.clj

@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+^{:kindly/hide-code true
+  :clay             {:title  "What if... we were taught transducers first?"
+                     :quarto {:author   :seancorfield
+                              :type     :post
+                              :date     "2025-05-31"
+                              :category :clojure
+                              :tags     [:transducers]}}}
+(ns clojure.transducers.what-if)
+
+;; Most Clojure tutorials start out with sequence functions like `map`,
+;; `filter` etc, and then explain how to avoid some of the problems that
+;; lazy sequences can cause. Transducers tend to be introduced later as a
+;; more advanced topic, but I'd argue that they could (and should) be taught
+;; earlier, and instead treat lazy sequences as an advanced topic.
+
+;; What if... we were taught transducers first?
+
+;; We're typically taught to use `map` or `filter` on a sequence or collection
+;; to produce a new sequence -- and there's often a comment that `map` applied
+;; to a vector does not produce a vector. With transducers, one of the key
+;; concepts is that the transformation is separated from the input and
+;; also from the output.
+
+;; Let's start out with the `sequence` function, just to show how we can go
+;; straight to a sequence of results:
+
+(sequence (map inc) (range 5))
+
+;; `sequence` works with multiple collections, like `map`:
+
+(sequence (map *) (range 5) (range 5) (range 5))
+(sequence (map vector) (range 5) (range 5) (range 5))
+
+;; How about chaining several transformations together? We can use `eduction`:
+
+(eduction (filter even?) (map inc) (range 10))
+
+;; Let's look at producing different types of output, using `into`:
+
+(into [] (map inc) (range 5))
+(into #{} (map inc) (range 5))
+
+;; Under the hood, `into` uses `conj` so if you use a list, the order is
+;; reversed (because `conj` onto a list prepends items, whereas `conj` onto
+;; a vector appends items):
+
+(into () (map inc) (range 5))
+
+;; For the next level of control, we can use `transduce` to specify how to
+;; combine the results, as well as what we start with initially:
+
+(transduce (map inc) conj [] (range 5))
+(transduce (map inc) conj #{} (range 5))
+(transduce (map inc) conj () (range 5))
+
+;; We might be tempted to use `cons` here, but its argument order is different
+;; from `conj` so this will fail:
+
+(try (transduce (map inc) cons () (range 5))
+     (catch Exception e (ex-message e)))
+
+;; Okay, well, let's use an anonymous function to reverse the order of the
+;; arguments:
+
+(try (transduce (map inc) #(cons %2 %1) () (range 5))
+     (catch Exception e (ex-message e)))
+
+;; Why is it trying to call `cons` with a single argument? In addition to
+;; separating the transformation from the output, `transduce` also has a
+;; "completion" step, which is performed on the final result. A convenience
+;; function called `completing` can be used to wrap the function here to
+;; provide a "no-op" completion:
+
+(transduce (map inc) (completing #(cons %2 %1)) () (range 5))
+
+;; `completing` lets us provide a "completion" function (instead of the
+;; default which is `identity`) so we could reverse the result:
+
+(transduce (map inc) (completing #(cons %2 %1) reverse) () (range 5))
+
+;; Instead of producing a collection result, we can also use `transduce` to
+;; compute results in other ways:
+
+(transduce (map inc) + 0 (range 5))
+(transduce (map inc) * 1 (range 5))
+
+;; Now let's circle back to chaining transformations, while also controlling
+;; the output type. We can use `comp` for this. As a recap, here's our
+;; `eduction` from earlier:
+
+(eduction (filter even?) (map inc) (range 10))
+
+;; We can compose multiple transducers:
+
+(comp (filter even?) (map inc))
+
+;; Let's give this a name:
+
+(def evens+1 (comp (filter even?) (map inc)))
+
+(into [] evens+1 (range 10))
+(into #{} evens+1 (range 10))
+
+;; We glossed over the result of `eduction` earlier -- it produced a sequence
+;; because we printed it out, but it is a "reducible" that has captured both
+;; its input and the series of transformations to apply, so we could pass it
+;; directly to `into` or `transduce` as if it were a collection:
+
+(into [] (eduction (filter even?) (map inc) (range 10)))
+(into [] (eduction evens+1 (range 10)))
+
+;; Because it is a "reducible", it only does work when it is consumed, so it
+;; is "lazy" in that sense, but it is not a lazy sequence. We can get a lazy
+;; sequence from a transducer using `sequence`, if we want, or we can rely
+;; on `into` and `transduce` etc being eager.
+
+;; In conclusion,
+;; by separating the transformation from the input and the output, we gain
+;; expressive power, flexibility, and reuse: we can compose transducers, we
+;; can apply them to any input that produces values, and consume the results
+;; in any way we like.
+
+;; For example, transducers can be used in several different ways with
+;; `core.async` channels:
+;; * [on a `chan`nel](https://clojure.github.io/core.async/clojure.core.async.html#var-chan)
+;; * [in a `pipeline`](https://clojure.github.io/core.async/clojure.core.async.html#var-pipeline)
+;; * [or consumed with `transduce`](https://clojure.github.io/core.async/clojure.core.async.html#var-transduce)