The problem

P10 (*) Run-length encoding of a list. Use the result of problem P09 to implement the so-called run-length encoding data compression method. Consecutive duplicates of elements are encoded as tuples (N, E) where N is the number of duplicates of the element E.

Example:

scala> encode(List('a, 'a, 'a, 'a, 'b, 'c, 'c, 'a, 'a, 'd, 'e, 'e, 'e, 'e))
res0: List[(Int, Symbol)] = List((4,'a), (1,'b), (2,'c), (2,'a), (1,'d), (4,'e))

Initial thoughts

The problem explicitly states "use the result of problem 09" (here) so I think it's time for me to learn how to make and import libraries. The problem itself seems to be rather simple to solve.

The recursive solution

Given the availability of the pack() function from problem 09 the recursive solution just has to walk the packed list and convert each element (a list of equal elements) into a tuple. This is the tail recursive version

import utils.packer

def encode[A](l: List[A]):List[(Int, A)] = {
    def _encode(res: List[(Int, A)], rem: List[List[A]]):List[(Int, A)] = rem match {
        case Nil => res
        case h::tail => _encode(res:::List((h.length, h.head)), tail)
    }
    _encode(List(), utils.packer.pack(l))
}

Note that I use the utils.packer.pack() function imported from a package which contains the code developed for problem 09.

To obtain the availability of the pack() function I first created a package. In Scala a package may be declared with the package keyword, but the functions cannot be declared at module-level, they have to be converted into methods of an object. So the content of the utils.scala file is

package utils

object packer {
    def pack[A](l: List[A]):List[List[A]] = {
        def _pack(res: List[List[A]], rem: List[A]):List[List[A]] = rem match {
            case Nil => res
            case ls => {
                val (s, r) = rem span { _ == rem.head }
                _pack(res:::List(s), r)
            }
        }
        _pack(List(), l)
    }
}

In Scala, an object is a singleton, and it is used without instancing it. So the pack() method may be used in this file as packer.pack(). This file is then compiled with the Scala compiler

$ scalac utils.scala

producing a utils directory with the following files

$ ls utils
packer$$anonfun$1.class
packer.class
packer$.class

This package may be directly used by any file in the same directory (e.g. through scala program.scala). If you plan to use it from another directory use the -classpath switch to include the right directory where the utils package may be found. (As an UNIX programmer, I hate single-dash Java long options, but they are here to stay)

Mapping

Mapping is, just like folding, a functional technique, because it applies a function to the elements of some collection. In Scala, the map() function of the List type produces a new list processing each element of the original list with the given function.

The function to process elements is very simple, since it has to pack together the length of the element (which is a list) and its head.

import utils.packer

def encode[A](l: List[A]):List[(Int, A)] = {
    utils.packer.pack(l) map { e => (e.length, e.head) }
}

The expression e => (e.length, e.head) is an anonymous function that maps an element into a tuple.

Final considerations

With this problem I met packages for the first time, learned how to compile and add paths through classpath. The functional solution introduced me to mapping.

Feedback

The GitHub issues page is the best place to submit corrections.