How can I chain implicits in Scala?
The pimp-my-library pattern allows me to seemingly add a method to a class by making available an implicit conversion from that class to one that implements the method.
Scala does not allow two such implicit conversions taking place, however, so I cannot got from A to C using an implicit A to B and another implicit B to C. Is there a way around this restriction?
Answer
Scala has a restriction on automatic conversions to add a method, which is that it won't apply more than one conversion in trying to find methods. For example:
class A(val n: Int)
class B(val m: Int, val n: Int)
class C(val m: Int, val n: Int, val o: Int) {
def total = m + n + o
}
// This demonstrates implicit conversion chaining restrictions
object T1 { // to make it easy to test on REPL
implicit def toA(n: Int): A = new A(n)
implicit def aToB(a: A): B = new B(a.n, a.n)
implicit def bToC(b: B): C = new C(b.m, b.n, b.m + b.n)
// won't work
println(5.total)
println(new A(5).total)
// works
println(new B(5, 5).total)
println(new C(5, 5, 10).total)
}
EDIT: View bounds ('<%') are deprecated since Scala 2.11 https://issues.scala-lang.org/browse/SI-7629 (You can use type classes instead)
However, if an implicit definition requires an implicit parameter itself(View bound), Scala will look for additional implicit values for as long as needed. Continue from the last example:
// def m[A <% B](m: A) is the same thing as
// def m[A](m: A)(implicit ev: A => B)
object T2 {
implicit def toA(n: Int): A = new A(n)
implicit def aToB[A1 <% A](a: A1): B = new B(a.n, a.n)
implicit def bToC[B1 <% B](b: B1): C = new C(b.m, b.n, b.m + b.n)
// works
println(5.total)
println(new A(5).total)
println(new B(5, 5).total)
println(new C(5, 5, 10).total)
}
"Magic!", you might say. Not so. Here is how the compiler would translate each one:
object T1Translated {
implicit def toA(n: Int): A = new A(n)
implicit def aToB(a: A): B = new B(a.n, a.n)
implicit def bToC(b: B): C = new C(b.m, b.n, b.m + b.n)
// Scala won't do this
println(bToC(aToB(toA(5))).total)
println(bToC(aToB(new A(5))).total)
// Just this
println(bToC(new B(5, 5)).total)
// No implicits required
println(new C(5, 5, 10).total)
}
object T2Translated {
implicit def toA(n: Int): A = new A(n)
implicit def aToB[A1 <% A](a: A1): B = new B(a.n, a.n)
implicit def bToC[B1 <% B](b: B1): C = new C(b.m, b.n, b.m + b.n)
// Scala does this
println(bToC(5)(x => aToB(x)(y => toA(y))).total)
println(bToC(new A(5))(x => aToB(x)(identity)).total)
println(bToC(new B(5, 5))(identity).total)
// no implicits required
println(new C(5, 5, 10).total)
}
So, while bToC is being used as an implicit conversion, aToB and toA are being passed as implicit parameters, instead of being chained as implicit conversions.
EDIT
Related question of interest: