hseq

Heterogenous Sequence of Types (hseq)

The module unfolds product type (e.g. structs) into sequence of types, while preserving the original type witness.

type T struct { /* ... */ } ⇒ hseq.Seq[T]

It is extension over reflection reflect.StructField but with compile and runtime type safeness even product types have equivalent set of members

type A struct { string }
type B struct { string }

// hseq.Seq[A] != hseq.Seq[B]

The module is an enabler for building generic algorithms over equivalent types avoiding repetition. For example,

• Building an optics abstraction requires definition of Lens[T, A]. The hseq module simplifies the type safe implementation allowing to lift any type A from the product T.
• Building Domain Specific Language might require exposure of type safe utilities over subset of product attributes.
• Implement generic and type safe witness of type T (e.g. pair T, A).

Getting Started

// hseq.Seq[T] is equivalent presentation of type T
// both represents product type T
type T struct { /* ... */ }

// make instance of heterogenous sequence
var seq = hseq.New[T]()

The heterogenous sequence is an ordered list of types derived from the product type. Absence of macros in Golang, does not allow us to make a compile type definition of heterogenous sequence. It is a runtime reflection but annotated with original type T, which makes it compile type safe. The sequence consists of hseq.Type[T], which uniquely identify typed member of original product type. The module provides two helper functions ForType/ForName, which lookup heterogenous sequence.

type T struct {
  A A
  B B
}

var (
  // lookup sequence using type hint A
  a = hseq.ForType[T, A](seq)
  // lookup sequence using name hint "B"
  b = hseq.ForName[T](seq, "B")
)

So far, examples above made nothing but unfold (decompose) the product type on individual components. Then, the module implements hseq.FMap1 ... hseq.FMap9 functions to construct type safe representation of the product type A × B × ... × I where the type safe witness is casted per element forming pair T, A.

var a, b = hseq.Map2[T, A, B](seq, /* ... */)

Quick Example

The most simplest example that shows the applicability of hseq abstraction is building generic getter - the function that focuses on struct attribute.

// Getter type just defines a generic function: T ⇒ A  
type Getter[T, A any] struct{ hseq.Type[T] }

func (field Getter[T, A]) Value(s T) A {
	f := reflect.ValueOf(s).FieldByName(field.Name)
	return f.Interface().(A)
}

// Creates type safe instance of Getter 
func NewGetter[T, A any](s hseq.Type[T]) Getter[T, A] {
	hseq.AssertStrict[T, A](s)
	return Getter[T, A]{s}
}

// For given product type Someone
type Someone struct {
  Name string
  Age  int
}

// Getters are defined. 
var name, age = hseq.FMap2(
	hseq.New[Someone](),
	newGetter[Someone, string],
  newGetter[Someone, int]
)

// While Getter is generic but instances are type safe.
// Compiler fails if name is used with other type than Someone and string
name.Value(/* ... */)