Reverse Compose
Reverse Compose (⍛
), also known as Before, is a primitive operator closely related to Beside (∘
), also known as After. Called dyadically with function operands f
and g
, it uses f
monadically to pre-processes the left argument before applying g
between the pre-processed left argument and the given right argument. X f⍛g Y
is thus equivalent to (f X) g Y
. The operator can be defined as the dop {(⍺⍺ ⍺) ⍵⍵ ⍵}
. Reverse compose was introduced in Extended Dyalog APL, and then adopted into dzaima/APL.
Common usage
Its plain usage is to pre-process left arguments without needing one or more applications of Commute (⍨
). For example, the square of the left argument minus the right argument can be expressed as:
3×⍨⍛-2 7
It can also be combined with Beside to create the split-compose construct. Here, we take the sign of the left argument and apply it to the absolute value of the right argument:
3 ¯1 4×⍛×∘|¯2 ¯7 1 2 ¯7 1