Loops

Generic pre-test loop (while)

PFA has an ordinary "while" loop, which has the usual danger of not terminating. (The timeout option can prevent that, however.) Its structure is:

{"while": CONDITION, "do": EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS}

where CONDITION is an expression that resolves to "boolean" and EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS is either a single expression or a JSON array of expressions.

PFA has no "break", "continue", or "return" statement, so a while loop is often not the best way to do things.

Example

An infinite loop.

{"while": true, "do": {"log": {"string": "Can't stop!"}}}

Generic post-test loop (do-until)

The "while" loop tests its condition before executing its "do" expressions, and sometimes it’s necessary to test the condition afterward (especially because there is no “break” statement). Its structure is:

{"do": EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS, "until": CONDITION}

where CONDITION is an expression that resolves to "boolean" and EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS is either a single expression or a JSON array of expressions.

Example

An iterative procedure that has a non-trivial stop condition.

{"do": [
    {"set": {"state": {"u.doOneIteration": "state"}}},
    {"let": {
        "cond1": {"u.checkCondition1": "state"},
        "cond2": {"u.checkCondition2": "state"}}},
    ],
 "until": {"&&": ["cond1", "cond2"]}}

Iteration with dummy variables (for)

PFA's "for" loop takes a "let"-like structure for its initializer and a "set"-like structure for its updator, but is otherwise like a for loop in C. Its structure is:

{"for": {VAR1: EXPR1, VAR2: EXPR2, ...},
 "while": CONDITION,
 "step": {VAR1: EXPR1, VAR2: EXPR2, ...},
 "do": EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS}

where the VAR are variable names and the EXPR are their initial or updated values. The initial values set the type and the updated values have to conform to that type. The CONDITION is an expression that resolves to "boolean", and EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS is either a single expression or a JSON array of expressions.

Example

A for loop that applies a procedure to numbers from 1 to 10 (inclusive).

{"for": {"i": 1},
 "while": {"<=": ["i", 10]},
 "step": {"i": {"+": ["i", 1]}},
 "do":
     {"u.procedure": "i"}}

Iteration over arrays (foreach)

PFA has a "foreach" loop for iteration over arrays. This version should be familiar to users of Python or R. Its structure is:

{"foreach": VAR, "in": ARRAY, "do": EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS}

or

{"foreach": VAR, "in": ARRAY, "do": EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS,
 "seq": TRUE-OR-FALSE}

where VAR is a new variable name, ARRAY is an expression that resolves to an array type, and EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS is either a single expression or a JSON array of expressions.

The "seq" parameter, if provided must be a JSON true or false (default of true). If true, it indicates that the loop must be processed sequentially. If false, the PFA implementation may parallelize the loop. The consequence for the PFA author is that variables defined outside the "foreach" can only be changed if elements are processed sequentially. If you get an error saying that a variable cannot be modified inside the scope of a "foreach" loop, make sure the "seq" parameter is true (although the cause could be another sealed scope between the "foreach" and the variable, such as an inline function declaration.)

Example

Apply a procedure to each element of an array.

{"foreach": "x", "in": "input.myArray", "do":
    {"u.procedure": "x"}}

Allow the PFA consumer to perform the steps in parallel, which makes it impossible to modify any variables defined outside the "foreach".

{"foreach": "x", "in": "input.myArray", "do":
    {"u.procedure": "x"},
 "seq": false}

Iteration over maps (forkey-forval)

PFA's "forkey-forval" is an extension of the "foreach" idea to iterating over the key-value pairs of a map. Its structure is:

{"forkey": VAR1, "forval": VAR2, "in": MAP,
 "do": EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS}

where VAR1 is the name of a new variable for each key of the map, VAR2 is the name of a new variable for each value of the map, MAP is an expression that resolves to a map type, and EXPRESSION-OR-EXPRESSIONS is either a single expression or a JSON array of expressions.

The order of a loop over a map is never guaranteed.

Example

Apply a procedure to each key, value pair of a map.

{"forkey": "k", "forval": "v", "in": "input.myMap", "do":
    {"u.procedure": ["k", "v"]}

Source

Data Mining Group Website