Data.Semigroup

The Semigroup represents a set with an associative binary operation. This makes a semigroup a superset of monoids. Semigoups have no other restrictions, and are a very general typeclass.

See also Data.Monoid: a Semigroup with an identity value.

Packages

• (base) Data.Semigroup

Syntax

class Semigroup a where
    (<>) :: a -> a -> a
    sconcat :: [[Data.List.Nonempty|Nonempty]] a -> a
    stimes :: Integral b => b -> a -> a

Minimal Complete Definition

(<>)

Description

Any datatype a which has an associative binary operation will be able to become a member of the Semigroup typeclass. An instance of Monoid a automatically satisfies the requirements of a Semigroup making Semigroup a strict superset of Monoid. The Monoid typeclass however does not enforce it's instances to already be instances of Semigroup

The Semigroup is a particularly forgiving typeclass in it's requirements, and datatypes may have many instances of Semigroup as long as they have functions which satisfy the requirements.

Semigroup Laws

In addition to the class requirements above, potential instances of Semigroup must obey a single law in order to become instances:

The binary operation <> must be associative

(a <> b) <> c == a <> (b <> c)

As long as you do not change the order of the arguments, you can insert parenthesis anywhere, and the result will be the same.

For example, addition (a + (b + c) == (a + b) + c), and multiplication (a * (b * c) == (a * b) * c) satisfy this requirement. Therefore <> could be defined as + or * for instances of class Num a. Division (div) however, would not be a candidate as it is not associative: 8 `div` (4 `div` 2) == 8 `div` 2 == 4 is not equal to (8 `div` 4) `div` 2 == 2 `div` 2 == 1.

In essence, the <> function could do anything, as long as it doesn't matter where you put parenthesis.

Rules for Monoids

Instances of Monoid have to obey an additional rule:

(<>) == mappend

This is to ensure that the instance of Monoid is equivalent to a more strict instance of Semigroup.

Methods

(<>) :: a -> a -> a

An associative binary operation.

sconcat :: [[Data.List.Nonempty|Nonempty]] a -> a

Take a nonempty list of type a and apply the <> operation to all of them to get a single result.

stimes :: Integral b => b -> a -> a

Given a number x and a value of type a, combine x times of the value a by repeatedly applying <>.

Examples

Sum numbers using <>:

Sum 3 <> Sum 4       -- with the type "Sum a", "<>" becomes "+"
-- returns: Sum {getSum = 7} because (3 <> 4) == (3 + 4) == 7

Exponents using stimes:

stimes 4 (Product 3) -- with the type "Product a" "<>" becomes "*"
-- returns: Product {getProduct = 81} 
-- This is because (3 <> 3 <> 3 <> 3) == (3 * 3 * 3 * 3) == 81
-- i.e. 3 multiplied by itself 4 times.

Test for any elements which are True in a non-empty list using sconcat:

sconcat (Any True :| [Any False, Any True, Any False])
-- sconcat will apply "<>" to all of the members in a list
-- returns: Any {getAny = True}
-- If any elements in the list are True than the whole expression is True
-- The type "Any" converts "<>" to "||"
-- (True <> False <> True <> False) == (True || False || True || False) == True

Test if all elements are True in a non-empty list using sconcat:

sconcat (All True :| [All False, All True, All False])
-- returns: All {getAll = False}
-- If all elements in the list are True than the whole expression is True
-- The type "All" converts "<>" to "&&"
-- (True <> False <> True <> False) == (True && False && True && False) == True

See Also

• Data.Monoid: a special case of Semigroup with an identity element mempty