unfix

Are you tired of your parentheses being in the wrong place? unfix™ can help!

Observe the following Java code:

import java.util.Map;
import java.util.HashMap;

public class Hamster {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, String> aMap = 
          new HashMap<String, String>() {{
            put("library", "unfix");
            put("isa", "joke");
            put("book", "Joy of Clojure");
        }};

        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("(");
        for (String k : aMap.values()) {
            sb.append(k);
            sb.append(" ");
        }
        sb.replace(sb.length()-1, sb.length(), ")");

        System.out.println("Values: " + sb.toString());
    }
}

Save this source in a file named Hamster.java, and compile it with javac Hamster.java. Finally, run it with the command java Hamster to see:

Values: (Joy of Clojure joke unfix)

Compared the Hamster class to the following code run in a Clojure REPL:

(def a-map {"library" "unfix"
            "isa" "joke"
            "book", "Joy of Clojure"})

(println "Values:" (vals a-map))
Values: (unfix joke Joy of Clojure)

Did you see that?! Did you see what happened? The System.out.println(...) call is replaced by (println ...). The opening parenthesis is in the wrong place! This is known as prefix notation, and it’s circumstances like this where unfix™ can help. Prefix notation is especially prominent in mathematical equations, something that every application is filled to the brim with:

(defn slope [[x0 y0] [x1 y1]]
  (float (/ (- y1 y0) 
            (- x1 x0))))

(slope [4 15] [3 21])
;=> -6.0

The form of the slope function looks very different than the form from those high-school classes that we never paid attention in, but unfix™ can unfix that:

(defn slope-unfixed [[x0 y0] [x1 y1]]
  (float
    (infix [y1 - y0] / [x1 - x0])))

(slope-unfixed [4 15] [3 21])
;=> -6.0

This is possible using unfix™’s alien technology, affectionately known as infix® notation.

There, all unbetter!®

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