package extlib

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type 'a t = 'a list =
  1. | []
  2. | :: of 'a * 'a list
New functions
val init : int -> (int -> 'a) -> 'a list

Similar to Array.init, init n f returns the list containing the results of (f 0),(f 1).... (f (n-1)). Raise Invalid_arg "ExtList.init" if n < 0. Uses stdlib implementation in OCaml 4.06.0 and newer.

val make : int -> 'a -> 'a list

Similar to String.make, make n x returns a * list containing n elements x.

val first : 'a list -> 'a

Returns the first element of the list, or raise Empty_list if the list is empty (similar to hd).

val last : 'a list -> 'a

Returns the last element of the list, or raise Empty_list if the list is empty. This function takes linear time.

val iteri : (int -> 'a -> unit) -> 'a list -> unit

iteri f l will call (f 0 a0);(f 1 a1) ... (f n an) where a0..an are the elements of the list l.

val mapi : (int -> 'a -> 'b) -> 'a list -> 'b list

mapi f l will build the list containing (f 0 a0);(f 1 a1) ... (f n an) where a0..an are the elements of the list l.

val rfind : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a

rfind p l returns the last element x of l such as p x returns true or raises Not_found if such element as not been found.

val find_exc : ('a -> bool) -> exn -> 'a list -> 'a

find_exc p e l returns the first element of l such as p x returns true or raises e if such element as not been found.

val findi : (int -> 'a -> bool) -> 'a list -> int * 'a

findi p e l returns the first element ai of l along with its index i such that p i ai is true, or raises Not_found if no such element has been found.

val unique : ?cmp:('a -> 'a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list

unique cmp l returns the list l without any duplicate element. Default comparator ( = ) is used if no comparison function specified.

val filter_map : ('a -> 'b option) -> 'a list -> 'b list

filter_map f l call (f a0) (f a1).... (f an) where a0..an are the elements of l. It returns the list of elements bi such as f ai = Some bi (when f returns None, the corresponding element of l is discarded).

val find_map_exn : ('a -> 'b option) -> 'a list -> 'b

find_map_exn pred list finds the first element of list for which pred element returns Some r. It returns r immediately once found or raises Not_found if no element matches the predicate. See also filter_map. This function was called find_map prior to extlib 1.7.7, but had to be renamed to stay compatible with OCaml 4.10.

val find_map_opt : ('a -> 'b option) -> 'a list -> 'b option

same as find_map_exn but returning option

val find_map : ('a -> 'b option) -> 'a list -> 'b option

same as find_map_opt

val split_nth : int -> 'a list -> 'a list * 'a list

split_nth n l returns two lists l1 and l2, l1 containing the first n elements of l and l2 the others. Raise Invalid_index if n is outside of l size bounds.

val filteri : (int -> 'a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list

Same as List.filter, but the predicate is applied to the index of the element as first argument (counting from 0), and the element itself as second argument.

val fold_left_map : ('a -> 'b -> 'a * 'c) -> 'a -> 'b list -> 'a * 'c list

fold_left_map is a combination of fold_left and map that threads an accumulator through calls to f

val remove : 'a list -> 'a -> 'a list

remove l x returns the list l without the first element x found or returns l if no element is equal to x. Elements are compared using ( = ).

val remove_if : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list

remove_if cmp l is similar to remove, but with cmp used instead of ( = ).

val remove_all : 'a list -> 'a -> 'a list

remove_all l x is similar to remove but removes all elements that are equal to x and not only the first one.

val take : int -> 'a list -> 'a list

take n l returns up to the n first elements from list l, if available.

val drop : int -> 'a list -> 'a list

drop n l returns l without the first n elements, or the empty list if l have less than n elements.

val takewhile : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list

takewhile f xs returns the first elements of list xs which satisfy the predicate f.

val dropwhile : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list

dropwhile f xs returns the list xs with the first elements satisfying the predicate f dropped.

Enum functions

Enumerations are important in ExtLib, they are a good way to work with abstract enumeration of elements, regardless if they are located in a list, an array, or a file.

val enum : 'a list -> 'a Enum.t

Returns an enumeration of the elements of a list.

val of_enum : 'a Enum.t -> 'a list

Build a list from an enumeration.

Compatibility functions
val cons : 'a -> 'a list -> 'a list
val assoc_opt : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> 'b option
val assq_opt : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> 'b option
val find_opt : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a option
val nth_opt : 'a list -> int -> 'a option
val compare_lengths : 'a list -> 'b list -> int
val compare_length_with : 'a list -> int -> int
Modified functions

Some minor modifications have been made to the specification of some functions, especially concerning exceptions raised.

val hd : 'a list -> 'a

Returns the first element of the list or raise Empty_list if the list is empty.

val tl : 'a list -> 'a list

Returns the list without its first elements or raise Empty_list if the list is empty.

val nth : 'a list -> int -> 'a

nth l n returns the n-th element of the list l or raise Invalid_index is the index is outside of l bounds.

val sort : ?cmp:('a -> 'a -> int) -> 'a list -> 'a list

Sort the list using optional comparator (by default compare).

The following functions have been improved so all of them are tail-recursive. They have also been modified so they no longer raise Invalid_arg but Different_list_size when used on two lists having a different number of elements.

val map2 : ('a -> 'b -> 'c) -> 'a list -> 'b list -> 'c list
val rev_map2 : ('a -> 'b -> 'c) -> 'a list -> 'b list -> 'c list
val iter2 : ('a -> 'b -> unit) -> 'a list -> 'b list -> unit
val fold_left2 : ('a -> 'b -> 'c -> 'a) -> 'a -> 'b list -> 'c list -> 'a
val fold_right2 : ('a -> 'b -> 'c -> 'c) -> 'a list -> 'b list -> 'c -> 'c
val for_all2 : ('a -> 'b -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'b list -> bool
val exists2 : ('a -> 'b -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'b list -> bool
val combine : 'a list -> 'b list -> ('a * 'b) list
Improved functions

The following functions have the same behavior as the List module ones but are tail-recursive. That means they will not cause a Stack_overflow when used on very long list.

The implementation might be a little more slow in bytecode, but compiling in native code will not affect performances.

val map : ('a -> 'b) -> 'a list -> 'b list
val append : 'a list -> 'a list -> 'a list
val flatten : 'a list list -> 'a list
val concat : 'a list list -> 'a list
val fold_right : ('a -> 'b -> 'b) -> 'a list -> 'b -> 'b
val remove_assoc : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> ('a * 'b) list
val remove_assq : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> ('a * 'b) list
val split : ('a * 'b) list -> 'a list * 'b list

The following functions were already tail-recursive in the List module but were using List.rev calls. The new implementations have better performances.

val filter : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list
val find_all : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list
val partition : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list * 'a list
Older functions

These functions are already part of the Ocaml standard library and have not been modified. Please refer to the Ocaml Manual for documentation.

val length : 'a list -> int
val rev_append : 'a list -> 'a list -> 'a list
val rev : 'a list -> 'a list
val rev_map : ('a -> 'b) -> 'a list -> 'b list
val iter : ('a -> unit) -> 'a list -> unit
val fold_left : ('b -> 'a -> 'b) -> 'b -> 'a list -> 'b
val for_all : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> bool
val exists : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> bool
val find : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a
val mem : 'a -> 'a list -> bool
val memq : 'a -> 'a list -> bool
val assoc : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> 'b
val assq : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> 'b
val mem_assoc : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> bool
val mem_assq : 'a -> ('a * 'b) list -> bool
val stable_sort : ('a -> 'a -> int) -> 'a list -> 'a list
val fast_sort : ('a -> 'a -> int) -> 'a list -> 'a list
val merge : ('a -> 'a -> int) -> 'a list -> 'a list -> 'a list
val sort_uniq : ('a -> 'a -> int) -> 'a list -> 'a list

Same as List.sort, but also remove duplicates.

  • since 4.02.0
val to_seq : 'a list -> 'a Seq.t

*_seq functions were introduced in OCaml 4.07.0, and are _not_ implemented in extlib for older OCaml versions

val of_seq : 'a Seq.t -> 'a list
val partition_map : ('a -> ('b, 'c) Either.t) -> 'a list -> 'b list * 'c list

partition_map f l returns a pair of lists (l1, l2) such that, for each element x of the input list l:

  • if f x is Left y1, then y1 is in l1, and
  • if f x is Right y2, then y2 is in l2.

The output elements are included in l1 and l2 in the same relative order as the corresponding input elements in l.

In particular, partition_map (fun x -> if f x then Left x else Right x) l is equivalent to partition f l.

This function was introduced in OCaml 4.12.0, and is _not_ implemented in extlib for older OCaml versions

val concat_map : ('a -> 'b list) -> 'a list -> 'b list
val equal : ('a -> 'a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list -> bool

equal eq [a1; ...; an] [b1; ..; bm] holds when the two input lists have the same length, and for each pair of elements ai, bi at the same position we have eq ai bi.

Note: the eq function may be called even if the lists have different length. If you know your equality function is costly, you may want to check compare_lengths first.

val compare : ('a -> 'a -> int) -> 'a list -> 'a list -> int

compare cmp [a1; ...; an] [b1; ...; bm] performs a lexicographic comparison of the two input lists, using the same 'a -> 'a -> int interface as Stdlib.compare:

  • a1 :: l1 is smaller than a2 :: l2 (negative result) if a1 is smaller than a2, or if they are equal (0 result) and l1 is smaller than l2
  • the empty list [] is strictly smaller than non-empty lists

Note: the cmp function will be called even if the lists have different lengths.

Exceptions
exception Empty_list

Empty_list is raised when an operation applied on an empty list is invalid : hd for example.

exception Invalid_index of int

Invalid_index is raised when an indexed access on a list is out of list bounds.

exception Different_list_size of string

Different_list_size is raised when applying functions such as iter2 on two lists having different size.