Reverse Compose: Difference between revisions

{{Built-in|Reverse Compose|⍛}} or '''Before''' is a [[primitive operator]] closely related to [[Beside]] (<syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>∘</syntaxhighlight>), which appears in [[Extended Dyalog APL]], [[dzaima/APL]], [[April]] and [[Kap]]. Called [[dyad|dyadically]] with function operands <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>f</syntaxhighlight> and <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>g</syntaxhighlight>, it uses <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>f</syntaxhighlight> [[monad|monadically]] to pre-processes the left argument before applying <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>g</syntaxhighlight> between the pre-processed left argument and the given right argument. <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>X f⍛g Y</syntaxhighlight> is thus equivalent to <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>(f X) g Y</syntaxhighlight>. The operator can be defined as the [[dop]] <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>{(⍺⍺ ⍺) ⍵⍵ ⍵}</syntaxhighlight>. This dyadic definition matches the [[hook]] function Before, represented as <code>⊸</code> in [[BQN]].

Unlike Before, the [[monad]]ic case of Reverse Compose has differed across implementations. When introduced by [[Extended Dyalog APL]], <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>f⍛g Y</syntaxhighlight> evaluated to <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>g Y</syntaxhighlight>, but the later [[Dyalog APL Vision]], as well as [[April]] and [[Kap]], define it to be <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>(f Y) g Y</syntaxhighlight>, matching Before. This later definition might also be written <syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>f⍛g</syntaxhighlight>{{←→}}<syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>f⍛g⍨⍨</syntaxhighlight>{{←→}}<syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>g⍨∘f⍨</syntaxhighlight>. In [[dzaima/APL]] the monadic case is simply an error.

Its plain usage is to pre-process left arguments without needing one or more applications of Commute (<syntaxhighlight lang=apl inline>⍨</syntaxhighlight>). For example, the square of the left argument minus the right argument can be expressed as:

[https://tio.run/##SyzI0U2pTMzJT9dNrShJzUtJTfn//1Hf1EdtE4wPT3/Uu@JR72xdo///AQ Try it online!]<syntaxhighlight lang=apl>

</syntaxhighlight>{{Works in|[[dzaima/APL]], [[Extended Dyalog APL]], [[Kap]]}}

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:

[https://tio.run/##SyzI0U2pSszMTfz//1Hf1EdtE4wVDq03VDA5PP1R72wg0TGj5tB6I6CYuYLh//8A Try it online!]<syntaxhighlight lang=apl>

</syntaxhighlight>{{Works in|[[dzaima/APL]], [[Extended Dyalog APL]], [[Kap]]}}