Reverse Compose

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⍛

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. Its dyadic case matches I's Hook (h), which is a reflected form of a J Hook, while Backhook (H) matches the ordinary Hook or Compose: because I's precedence order is left to right, it considers the "reversed" APL form to be primary. The monadic case was discussed for a while in the APL Orchard. To be completely consistent with the other function composition, the left "leg" would be removed, making f⍛g Y be equivalent to g Y. However, this would never apply f and would questionably be called a composition of f and g. Instead, it was concluded that the best solution would be to have f⍛g Y be a hook, f⍛g⍨Y, that is, f⍛g f⍛g⍨⍨ g⍨∘f⍨.

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:

Try it online!

      3×⍨⍛-2
7
Works in: dzaima/APL, Extended Dyalog APL

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 (that is, multiply it with) the absolute value of the right argument:

Try it online!

      3 ¯1 4×⍛×∘|¯2 ¯7 1
2 ¯7 1
Works in: dzaima/APL, Extended Dyalog APL
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