Javascript: operator overloading - javascript

I've been working with JavaScript for a few days now and have got to a point where I want to overload operators for my defined objects.
After a stint on google searching for this it seems you can't officially do this, yet there are a few people out there claiming some long-winded way of performing this action.
Basically I've made a Vector2 class and want to be able to do the following:
var x = new Vector2(10,10);
var y = new Vector2(10,10);
x += y; //This does not result in x being a vector with 20,20 as its x & y values.
Instead I'm having to do this:
var x = new Vector2(10,10);
var y = new Vector2(10,10);
x = x.add(y); //This results in x being a vector with 20,20 as its x & y values.
Is there an approach I can take to overload operators in my Vector2 class? As this just looks plain ugly.

As you've found, JavaScript doesn't support operator overloading. The closest you can come is to implement toString (which will get called when the instance needs to be coerced to being a string) and valueOf (which will get called to coerce it to a number, for instance when using + for addition, or in many cases when using it for concatenation because + tries to do addition before concatenation), which is pretty limited. Neither lets you create a Vector2 object as a result. Similarly, Proxy (added in ES2015) lets you intercept various object operations (including property access), but again won't let you control the result of += on Vector instances.
For people coming to this question who want a string or number as a result (instead of a Vector2), though, here are examples of valueOf and toString. These examples do not demonstrate operator overloading, just taking advantage of JavaScript's built-in handling converting to primitives:
valueOf
This example doubles the value of an object's val property in response to being coerced to a primitive, for instance via +:
function Thing(val) {
this.val = val;
}
Thing.prototype.valueOf = function() {
// Here I'm just doubling it; you'd actually do your longAdd thing
return this.val * 2;
};
var a = new Thing(1);
var b = new Thing(2);
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
Or with ES2015's class:
class Thing {
constructor(val) {
this.val = val;
}
valueOf() {
return this.val * 2;
}
}
const a = new Thing(1);
const b = new Thing(2);
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
Or just with objects, no constructors:
var thingPrototype = {
valueOf: function() {
return this.val * 2;
}
};
var a = Object.create(thingPrototype);
a.val = 1;
var b = Object.create(thingPrototype);
b.val = 2;
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
toString
This example converts the value of an object's val property to upper case in response to being coerced to a primitive, for instance via +:
function Thing(val) {
this.val = val;
}
Thing.prototype.toString = function() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
};
var a = new Thing("a");
var b = new Thing("b");
console.log(a + b); // AB
Or with ES2015's class:
class Thing {
constructor(val) {
this.val = val;
}
toString() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
}
}
const a = new Thing("a");
const b = new Thing("b");
console.log(a + b); // AB
Or just with objects, no constructors:
var thingPrototype = {
toString: function() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
}
};
var a = Object.create(thingPrototype);
a.val = "a";
var b = Object.create(thingPrototype);
b.val = "b";
console.log(a + b); // AB

As T.J. said, you cannot overload operators in JavaScript. However you can take advantage of the valueOf function to write a hack which looks better than using functions like add every time, but imposes the constraints on the vector that the x and y are between 0 and MAX_VALUE. Here is the code:
var MAX_VALUE = 1000000;
var Vector = function(a, b) {
var self = this;
//initialize the vector based on parameters
if (typeof(b) == "undefined") {
//if the b value is not passed in, assume a is the hash of a vector
self.y = a % MAX_VALUE;
self.x = (a - self.y) / MAX_VALUE;
} else {
//if b value is passed in, assume the x and the y coordinates are the constructors
self.x = a;
self.y = b;
}
//return a hash of the vector
this.valueOf = function() {
return self.x * MAX_VALUE + self.y;
};
};
var V = function(a, b) {
return new Vector(a, b);
};
Then you can write equations like this:
var a = V(1, 2); //a -> [1, 2]
var b = V(2, 4); //b -> [2, 4]
var c = V((2 * a + b) / 2); //c -> [2, 4]

It's possible to do vector math with two numbers packed into one. Let me first show an example before I explain how it works:
let a = vec_pack([2,4]);
let b = vec_pack([1,2]);
let c = a+b; // Vector addition
let d = c-b; // Vector subtraction
let e = d*2; // Scalar multiplication
let f = e/2; // Scalar division
console.log(vec_unpack(c)); // [3, 6]
console.log(vec_unpack(d)); // [2, 4]
console.log(vec_unpack(e)); // [4, 8]
console.log(vec_unpack(f)); // [2, 4]
if(a === f) console.log("Equality works");
if(a > b) console.log("Y value takes priority");
I am using the fact that if you bit shift two numbers X times and then add or subtract them before shifting them back, you will get the same result as if you hadn't shifted them to begin with. Similarly scalar multiplication and division works symmetrically for shifted values.
A JavaScript number has 52 bits of integer precision (64 bit floats), so I will pack one number into he higher available 26 bits, and one into the lower. The code is made a bit more messy because I wanted to support signed numbers.
function vec_pack(vec){
return vec[1] * 67108864 + (vec[0] < 0 ? 33554432 | vec[0] : vec[0]);
}
function vec_unpack(number){
switch(((number & 33554432) !== 0) * 1 + (number < 0) * 2){
case(0):
return [(number % 33554432),Math.trunc(number / 67108864)];
break;
case(1):
return [(number % 33554432)-33554432,Math.trunc(number / 67108864)+1];
break;
case(2):
return [(((number+33554432) % 33554432) + 33554432) % 33554432,Math.round(number / 67108864)];
break;
case(3):
return [(number % 33554432),Math.trunc(number / 67108864)];
break;
}
}
The only downside I can see with this is that the x and y has to be in the range +-33 million, since they have to fit within 26 bits each.

Actually, there is one variant of JavaScript that does support operator overloading. ExtendScript, the scripting language used by Adobe applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator, does have operator overloading. In it, you can write:
Vector2.prototype["+"] = function( b )
{
return new Vector2( this.x + b.x, this.y + b.y );
}
var a = new Vector2(1,1);
var b = new Vector2(2,2);
var c = a + b;
This is described in more detail in the "Adobe Extendscript JavaScript tools guide" (current link here). The syntax was apparently based on a (now long abandoned) draft of the ECMAScript standard.

FYI paper.js solves this issue by creating PaperScript, a self-contained, scoped javascript with operator overloading of vectors, which it then processing back into javascript.
But the paperscript files need to be specifically specified and processed as such.

We can use React-like Hooks to evaluate arrow function with different values from valueOf method on each iteration.
const a = Vector2(1, 2) // [1, 2]
const b = Vector2(2, 4) // [2, 4]
const c = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [2, 4]
// There arrow function will iterate twice
// 1 iteration: method valueOf return X component
// 2 iteration: method valueOf return Y component
const Vector2 = (function() {
let index = -1
return function(x, y) {
if (typeof x === 'function') {
const calc = x
index = 0, x = calc()
index = 1, y = calc()
index = -1
}
return Object.assign([x, y], {
valueOf() {
return index == -1 ? this.toString() : this[index]
},
toString() {
return `[${this[0]}, ${this[1]}]`
},
len() {
return Math.sqrt(this[0] ** 2 + this[1] ** 2)
}
})
}
})()
const a = Vector2(1, 2)
const b = Vector2(2, 4)
console.log('a = ' + a) // a = [1, 2]
console.log(`b = ${b}`) // b = [2, 4]
const c = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [2, 4]
a[0] = 12
const d = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [13, 4]
const normalized = Vector2(() => d / d.len()) // [0.955..., 0.294...]
console.log(c, d, normalized)
Library #js-basics/vector uses the same idea for Vector3.

I wrote a library that exploits a bunch of evil hacks to do it in raw JS. It allows expressions like these.
Complex numbers:
>> Complex()({r: 2, i: 0} / {r: 1, i: 1} + {r: -3, i: 2}))
<- {r: -2, i: 1}
Automatic differentiation:
Let f(x) = x^3 - 5x:
>> var f = x => Dual()(x * x * x - {x:5, dx:0} * x);
Now map it over some values:
>> [-2,-1,0,1,2].map(a=>({x:a,dx:1})).map(f).map(a=>a.dx)
<- [ 7, -2, -5, -2, 7 ]
i.e. f'(x) = 3x^2 - 5.
Polynomials:
>> Poly()([1,-2,3,-4]*[5,-6]).map((c,p)=>''+c+'x^'+p).join(' + ')
<- "5x^0 + -16x^1 + 27x^2 + -38x^3 + 24x^4"
For your particular problem, you would define a Vector2 function (or maybe something shorter) using the library, then write x = Vector2()(x + y);
https://gist.github.com/pyrocto/5a068100abd5ff6dfbe69a73bbc510d7

Whilst not an exact answer to the question, it is possible to implement some of the python __magic__ methods using ES6 Symbols
A [Symbol.toPrimitive]() method doesn't let you imply a call Vector.add(), but will let you use syntax such as Decimal() + int.
class AnswerToLifeAndUniverseAndEverything {
[Symbol.toPrimitive](hint) {
if (hint === 'string') {
return 'Like, 42, man';
} else if (hint === 'number') {
return 42;
} else {
// when pushed, most classes (except Date)
// default to returning a number primitive
return 42;
}
}
}
https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/metaprogramming-in-es6-symbols/

Interesting is also experimental library operator-overloading-js . It does overloading in a defined context (callback function) only.

Related

How to use big.js?

From the examples of big.js they show this example
0.3 - 0.1 // 0.19999999999999998
x = new Big(0.3)
x.minus(0.1) // "0.2"
x // "0.3"
x.div(y).plus(z).times(9).minus('1.234567801234567e+8').plus(976.54321).div('2598.11772')
Which is a very simple example. In my case I would like to calculate
res = a + (b / c) + (d + 1) / (e * f * g);
I cannot see how that can be calculated without introducing 7 temporary variables, which doesn't seam correct.
Question
Does anyone know how to calculate the above with big.js?
You can do this "inside-out", i.e. first convert the parts in the inner parentheses.
For example:
const temp1 = b.div(c),
temp2 = d.plus(1),
temp3 = e.times(f).times(g),
temp4 = temp2.div(temp3),
result = a.plus(temp1).plus(temp4);
But you don't actually need those temporary variables. Just take that last expression and inject the definition of the temporary variables, so your expression expands to this:
const res = a.plus(b.div(c)).plus(d.plus(1).div(e.times(f).times(g)));
// a + (b / c ) + (d + 1) / (e * f * g )
Demo:
const params = [1, 100, 5, 99, 2, 5, 2];
{ // First with native types:
const [a,b,c,d,e,f,g] = params;
const res = a + (b / c) + (d + 1) / (e * f * g);
console.log(res);
}
{ // Then with big.js
const [a,b,c,d,e,f,g] = params.map(Big);
const res = a.plus(b.div(c)).plus(d.plus(1).div(e.times(f).times(g)));
console.log(res.toNumber());
}
<script src='https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/big.js#6.2.1/big.min.js'></script>

Is there a way to add or subtract object in JavaScript? [duplicate]

I've been working with JavaScript for a few days now and have got to a point where I want to overload operators for my defined objects.
After a stint on google searching for this it seems you can't officially do this, yet there are a few people out there claiming some long-winded way of performing this action.
Basically I've made a Vector2 class and want to be able to do the following:
var x = new Vector2(10,10);
var y = new Vector2(10,10);
x += y; //This does not result in x being a vector with 20,20 as its x & y values.
Instead I'm having to do this:
var x = new Vector2(10,10);
var y = new Vector2(10,10);
x = x.add(y); //This results in x being a vector with 20,20 as its x & y values.
Is there an approach I can take to overload operators in my Vector2 class? As this just looks plain ugly.
As you've found, JavaScript doesn't support operator overloading. The closest you can come is to implement toString (which will get called when the instance needs to be coerced to being a string) and valueOf (which will get called to coerce it to a number, for instance when using + for addition, or in many cases when using it for concatenation because + tries to do addition before concatenation), which is pretty limited. Neither lets you create a Vector2 object as a result. Similarly, Proxy (added in ES2015) lets you intercept various object operations (including property access), but again won't let you control the result of += on Vector instances.
For people coming to this question who want a string or number as a result (instead of a Vector2), though, here are examples of valueOf and toString. These examples do not demonstrate operator overloading, just taking advantage of JavaScript's built-in handling converting to primitives:
valueOf
This example doubles the value of an object's val property in response to being coerced to a primitive, for instance via +:
function Thing(val) {
this.val = val;
}
Thing.prototype.valueOf = function() {
// Here I'm just doubling it; you'd actually do your longAdd thing
return this.val * 2;
};
var a = new Thing(1);
var b = new Thing(2);
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
Or with ES2015's class:
class Thing {
constructor(val) {
this.val = val;
}
valueOf() {
return this.val * 2;
}
}
const a = new Thing(1);
const b = new Thing(2);
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
Or just with objects, no constructors:
var thingPrototype = {
valueOf: function() {
return this.val * 2;
}
};
var a = Object.create(thingPrototype);
a.val = 1;
var b = Object.create(thingPrototype);
b.val = 2;
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
toString
This example converts the value of an object's val property to upper case in response to being coerced to a primitive, for instance via +:
function Thing(val) {
this.val = val;
}
Thing.prototype.toString = function() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
};
var a = new Thing("a");
var b = new Thing("b");
console.log(a + b); // AB
Or with ES2015's class:
class Thing {
constructor(val) {
this.val = val;
}
toString() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
}
}
const a = new Thing("a");
const b = new Thing("b");
console.log(a + b); // AB
Or just with objects, no constructors:
var thingPrototype = {
toString: function() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
}
};
var a = Object.create(thingPrototype);
a.val = "a";
var b = Object.create(thingPrototype);
b.val = "b";
console.log(a + b); // AB
As T.J. said, you cannot overload operators in JavaScript. However you can take advantage of the valueOf function to write a hack which looks better than using functions like add every time, but imposes the constraints on the vector that the x and y are between 0 and MAX_VALUE. Here is the code:
var MAX_VALUE = 1000000;
var Vector = function(a, b) {
var self = this;
//initialize the vector based on parameters
if (typeof(b) == "undefined") {
//if the b value is not passed in, assume a is the hash of a vector
self.y = a % MAX_VALUE;
self.x = (a - self.y) / MAX_VALUE;
} else {
//if b value is passed in, assume the x and the y coordinates are the constructors
self.x = a;
self.y = b;
}
//return a hash of the vector
this.valueOf = function() {
return self.x * MAX_VALUE + self.y;
};
};
var V = function(a, b) {
return new Vector(a, b);
};
Then you can write equations like this:
var a = V(1, 2); //a -> [1, 2]
var b = V(2, 4); //b -> [2, 4]
var c = V((2 * a + b) / 2); //c -> [2, 4]
It's possible to do vector math with two numbers packed into one. Let me first show an example before I explain how it works:
let a = vec_pack([2,4]);
let b = vec_pack([1,2]);
let c = a+b; // Vector addition
let d = c-b; // Vector subtraction
let e = d*2; // Scalar multiplication
let f = e/2; // Scalar division
console.log(vec_unpack(c)); // [3, 6]
console.log(vec_unpack(d)); // [2, 4]
console.log(vec_unpack(e)); // [4, 8]
console.log(vec_unpack(f)); // [2, 4]
if(a === f) console.log("Equality works");
if(a > b) console.log("Y value takes priority");
I am using the fact that if you bit shift two numbers X times and then add or subtract them before shifting them back, you will get the same result as if you hadn't shifted them to begin with. Similarly scalar multiplication and division works symmetrically for shifted values.
A JavaScript number has 52 bits of integer precision (64 bit floats), so I will pack one number into he higher available 26 bits, and one into the lower. The code is made a bit more messy because I wanted to support signed numbers.
function vec_pack(vec){
return vec[1] * 67108864 + (vec[0] < 0 ? 33554432 | vec[0] : vec[0]);
}
function vec_unpack(number){
switch(((number & 33554432) !== 0) * 1 + (number < 0) * 2){
case(0):
return [(number % 33554432),Math.trunc(number / 67108864)];
break;
case(1):
return [(number % 33554432)-33554432,Math.trunc(number / 67108864)+1];
break;
case(2):
return [(((number+33554432) % 33554432) + 33554432) % 33554432,Math.round(number / 67108864)];
break;
case(3):
return [(number % 33554432),Math.trunc(number / 67108864)];
break;
}
}
The only downside I can see with this is that the x and y has to be in the range +-33 million, since they have to fit within 26 bits each.
Actually, there is one variant of JavaScript that does support operator overloading. ExtendScript, the scripting language used by Adobe applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator, does have operator overloading. In it, you can write:
Vector2.prototype["+"] = function( b )
{
return new Vector2( this.x + b.x, this.y + b.y );
}
var a = new Vector2(1,1);
var b = new Vector2(2,2);
var c = a + b;
This is described in more detail in the "Adobe Extendscript JavaScript tools guide" (current link here). The syntax was apparently based on a (now long abandoned) draft of the ECMAScript standard.
FYI paper.js solves this issue by creating PaperScript, a self-contained, scoped javascript with operator overloading of vectors, which it then processing back into javascript.
But the paperscript files need to be specifically specified and processed as such.
We can use React-like Hooks to evaluate arrow function with different values from valueOf method on each iteration.
const a = Vector2(1, 2) // [1, 2]
const b = Vector2(2, 4) // [2, 4]
const c = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [2, 4]
// There arrow function will iterate twice
// 1 iteration: method valueOf return X component
// 2 iteration: method valueOf return Y component
const Vector2 = (function() {
let index = -1
return function(x, y) {
if (typeof x === 'function') {
const calc = x
index = 0, x = calc()
index = 1, y = calc()
index = -1
}
return Object.assign([x, y], {
valueOf() {
return index == -1 ? this.toString() : this[index]
},
toString() {
return `[${this[0]}, ${this[1]}]`
},
len() {
return Math.sqrt(this[0] ** 2 + this[1] ** 2)
}
})
}
})()
const a = Vector2(1, 2)
const b = Vector2(2, 4)
console.log('a = ' + a) // a = [1, 2]
console.log(`b = ${b}`) // b = [2, 4]
const c = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [2, 4]
a[0] = 12
const d = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [13, 4]
const normalized = Vector2(() => d / d.len()) // [0.955..., 0.294...]
console.log(c, d, normalized)
Library #js-basics/vector uses the same idea for Vector3.
I wrote a library that exploits a bunch of evil hacks to do it in raw JS. It allows expressions like these.
Complex numbers:
>> Complex()({r: 2, i: 0} / {r: 1, i: 1} + {r: -3, i: 2}))
<- {r: -2, i: 1}
Automatic differentiation:
Let f(x) = x^3 - 5x:
>> var f = x => Dual()(x * x * x - {x:5, dx:0} * x);
Now map it over some values:
>> [-2,-1,0,1,2].map(a=>({x:a,dx:1})).map(f).map(a=>a.dx)
<- [ 7, -2, -5, -2, 7 ]
i.e. f'(x) = 3x^2 - 5.
Polynomials:
>> Poly()([1,-2,3,-4]*[5,-6]).map((c,p)=>''+c+'x^'+p).join(' + ')
<- "5x^0 + -16x^1 + 27x^2 + -38x^3 + 24x^4"
For your particular problem, you would define a Vector2 function (or maybe something shorter) using the library, then write x = Vector2()(x + y);
https://gist.github.com/pyrocto/5a068100abd5ff6dfbe69a73bbc510d7
Whilst not an exact answer to the question, it is possible to implement some of the python __magic__ methods using ES6 Symbols
A [Symbol.toPrimitive]() method doesn't let you imply a call Vector.add(), but will let you use syntax such as Decimal() + int.
class AnswerToLifeAndUniverseAndEverything {
[Symbol.toPrimitive](hint) {
if (hint === 'string') {
return 'Like, 42, man';
} else if (hint === 'number') {
return 42;
} else {
// when pushed, most classes (except Date)
// default to returning a number primitive
return 42;
}
}
}
https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/metaprogramming-in-es6-symbols/
Interesting is also experimental library operator-overloading-js . It does overloading in a defined context (callback function) only.

Math operations from string using Javascript

I am trying to find a simple way to perform a set of javascript math operations without using eval() function. Example: 1+2x3x400+32/2+3 and it must follow the PEMDAS math principle. This is what I have, but it doesn't work exactly it should.
function mdas(equation) {
let operations = ["*", "/", "+", "-"];
for (let outerCount = 0; outerCount < operations.length; outerCount++) {
for (let innerCount = 0; innerCount < equation.length; ) {
if (equation[innerCount] == operations[outerCount]) {
let operationResult = runOperation(equation[innerCount - 1], operations[outerCount], equation[innerCount + 1]);
var leftSideOfEquation = equation.substr(0, equation.indexOf(innerCount - 1));
var rightSideOfEquation = equation.substr(equation.indexOf(innerCount), equation.length);
var rightSideOfEquation = rightSideOfEquation.replace(rightSideOfEquation[0],String(operationResult));
equation = leftSideOfEquation + rightSideOfEquation;
innerCount = 0;
}
else {
innerCount++;
}
}
}
return "Here is it: " + equation; //result of the equation
}
If you don't want to use a complete library like mathjs - and you don't want to tackle creating your own script which would involve: lexical analysis, tokenization, syntax analysis, recursive tree parsing, compiling and output...
the simplest banal suggestion: Function
const calc = s => Function(`return(${s})`)();
console.log( calc("1+2*3*400+32/2+3") ); // 2420
console.log( calc("-3*-2") ); // 6
console.log( calc("-3 * + 1") ); // -3
console.log( calc("-3 + -1") ); // -4
console.log( calc("2 * (3 + 1)") ); // 8
My take at a custom MDAS
Here I created a Regex to retrieve operands and operators, accounting for negative values: /(-?[\d.]+)([*\/+-])?/g.
Firstly we need to remove any whitespace from our string using str.replace(/ /g , "")
Using JavaScript's String.prototype.matchAll() we can get a 2D array with all the matches as [[fullMatch, operand, operator], [.. ] we can than further flatten it using Array.prototype.flat()
Having that flattened array, we can now filter it using Array.prototype.filter() to remove the fullMatch -es returned by the regular expression and remove the last undefined value.
Define a calc Object with the needed operation functions
Iterate over the MDAS groups */ and than +- as regular expressions /\/*/ and /+-/
Consume finally the array of matches until only one array key is left
let str = "-1+2 * 3*+400+-32 /2+3.1"; // 2386.1
str = str.replace(/ +/g, ""); // Remove all spaces!
// Get operands and operators as array.
// Remove full matches and undefined values.
const m = [...str.matchAll(/(-?[\d.]+)([*\/+-])?/g)].flat().filter((x, i) => x && i % 3);
const calc = {
"*": (a, b) => a * b,
"/": (a, b) => a / b,
"+": (a, b) => a + b,
"-": (a, b) => a - b,
};
// Iterate by MDAS groups order (first */ and than +-)
[/[*\/]/, /[+-]/].forEach(expr => {
for (let i = 0; i < m.length; i += 2) {
let [a, x, b] = [m[i], m[i + 1], m[i + 2]];
x = expr.exec(x);
if (!x) continue;
m[i] = calc[x.input](parseFloat(a), parseFloat(b)); // calculate and insert
m.splice(i + 1, 2); // remove operator and operand
i -= 2; // rewind loop
}
});
// Get the last standing result
console.log(m[0]); // 2386.1
It's a little hacky, but you can try something like this:
var eqs = [
'1+2*3*4+1+1+3',
'1+2*3*400+32/2+3',
'-5+2',
'3*-2',
];
for(var eq in eqs) { console.log(mdas(eqs[eq])); }
function mdas(equation) {
console.log(equation);
var failsafe = 100;
var num = '(((?<=[*+-])-|^-)?[0-9.]+)';
var reg = new RegExp(num + '([*/])' + num);
while(m = reg.exec(equation)) {
var n = (m[3] == "*") ? m[1]*m[4] : m[1]/m[4];
equation = equation.replace(m[0], n);
if(failsafe--<0) { return 'failsafe'; }
}
var reg = new RegExp(num + '([+-])' + num);
while(m = reg.exec(equation)) {
var n = (m[3] == "+") ? 1*m[1] + 1*m[4] : m[1]-m[4];
equation = equation.replace(m[0], n);
if(failsafe--<0) { return 'failsafe'; }
}
return equation;
}

looping through math operators using eval

var toyProblem = function () {
var sol= 0;
var operators = ['+','-','*','/'];
console.log(sol)
for(var i in arguments){
for(var j in operators){
sol = eval(sol + (operators[j]) + arguments[i]);
}
}
return sol;
}
toyProblem(6, 0, 10, 3); //6 + 0 - 10 * 3 === -12)
I'm trying to loop through 4 math operators for an unknown number of input values. I'm thinking of using eval in a nest for loop as a way of going through both the unknown number of arguments while also changing the math operator. At the bottom is the solution that I want to arrive at. Is this a good way of going about this problem or am I barking up the wrong tree?
var toyProblem = function () {
var sol_str='';
var operators = ['+','-','*','/'];
for(var i in operators){
var prev_operator=(i-1);
if(sol_str!=''){sol_str+=operators[prev_operator];}
sol_str +=arguments[i];
}
console.log(sol_str);
return eval(sol_str);
}
console.log(toyProblem(6, 0, 10, 3));
Nesting the 2 loops will result in doing 6 + 6 - 6 * 6 / 6 + 0 - 0 * 0 / 0 + 10 - 10 * 10 / 10 + 3 - 3 * 3 / 3
I didn't find a way to do this without eval as looping through operations one by one would modify the operators priority so this is what I propose : Building an operation 'query' to be eval'd and returned.
Hope this helps
var toyProblem = function () {
var operation = '';
var operators = ['+','-','*','/'];
var args = Array.from(arguments);
args.forEach(function (arg, index) {
if (index > 0) {
operation += operators[index - 1];
}
operation += arg;
});
return eval(operation);
}
console.log(6 + 0 - 10 * 3);
console.log(toyProblem(6, 0, 10, 3)); //6 + 0 - 10 * 3 === -24)
Let's decompose the problem. You have a variadic function that accepts unknown number of arguments and applies an operator to each next argument depending on the index of that element.
Because the number of arguments can be greater than the number of operators, it's appropriate to use modulo operator to infinitely loop through the array of operators while going once through the list of arguments.
The eval operation takes a string, evaluates it, and returns the result of evaluation of the expression that string represents. So you're on the right track. But because eval function takes a string as the first argument, I'd recommend using template literals, it's supported in almost all browsers natively and doesn't need to be transpiled into good old ES5.
The function then would look like this:
function toyProblem(first = 0, ...args) {
const operators = ['+', '-', '*', '/'];
let sol = first;
for (let i in args) {
sol = eval(`${sol} ${operators[i % operators.length]} ${args[i]}`);
}
return sol;
}
However, as there is recommended in the comments, using eval isn't something you'd like to ship to users. Instead, I'd suggest using functions. Functions in Javascript are first-class citizens, so you can pass them as an argument.
Imagine that you have a function (a, b) => a + b instead of just a string "+". The code would then look like this:
function toyProblem(first = 0, ...args) {
const operations = [
(a, b) => a + b,
(a, b) => a - b,
(a, b) => a * b,
(a, b) => a / b,
];
let sol = first;
for (let i in args) {
sol = operations[i](sol, args[i]);
}
return sol;
}
You could go even further and make the function universal in terms of possible operations. Have fun!
Since you are hard coding the names of the operators you might as well hard code the functions and avoid eval. You put the functions into an array that will let you loop through. Then you can just reduce through the arguments with a simple one-liner, which will handle any amount of arguments:
const op = [
(a, b) => a + b,
(a, b) => a - b,
(a, b) => a * b,
(a, b) => a / b
]
function prob(...args){
return args.reduce((curr, acc, idx) => op[(idx - 1) % op.length](curr, acc))
}
console.log(prob(6, 0, 10, 3))
console.log(prob(6, 0, 10, 3, 20, 11, 15, 100))
To get product -12 the first three parts of the expression need to be evaluated within parentheses, else the result will be -24. You can use String.prototype.replace() to replace "," characters after calling .toString() on input array, replace the "," with the operator, return the expression (6 + 0 - 10) * 3 from Function() constructor
var toyProblem = function () {
var operators = ['+','-','*'];
var opts = operators.slice(0);
var n = [...arguments];
var res = n.toString().replace(/,/g, () => opts.shift());
var index = res.indexOf(operators[operators.length -1]);
return new Function(`return (${res.slice(0, index)})${res.slice(index)}`)();
}
var product = toyProblem(6, 0, 10, 3);
console.log(product);

Is there a way to override assignmenet operator in JS ES6 classes? [duplicate]

I've been working with JavaScript for a few days now and have got to a point where I want to overload operators for my defined objects.
After a stint on google searching for this it seems you can't officially do this, yet there are a few people out there claiming some long-winded way of performing this action.
Basically I've made a Vector2 class and want to be able to do the following:
var x = new Vector2(10,10);
var y = new Vector2(10,10);
x += y; //This does not result in x being a vector with 20,20 as its x & y values.
Instead I'm having to do this:
var x = new Vector2(10,10);
var y = new Vector2(10,10);
x = x.add(y); //This results in x being a vector with 20,20 as its x & y values.
Is there an approach I can take to overload operators in my Vector2 class? As this just looks plain ugly.
As you've found, JavaScript doesn't support operator overloading. The closest you can come is to implement toString (which will get called when the instance needs to be coerced to being a string) and valueOf (which will get called to coerce it to a number, for instance when using + for addition, or in many cases when using it for concatenation because + tries to do addition before concatenation), which is pretty limited. Neither lets you create a Vector2 object as a result. Similarly, Proxy (added in ES2015) lets you intercept various object operations (including property access), but again won't let you control the result of += on Vector instances.
For people coming to this question who want a string or number as a result (instead of a Vector2), though, here are examples of valueOf and toString. These examples do not demonstrate operator overloading, just taking advantage of JavaScript's built-in handling converting to primitives:
valueOf
This example doubles the value of an object's val property in response to being coerced to a primitive, for instance via +:
function Thing(val) {
this.val = val;
}
Thing.prototype.valueOf = function() {
// Here I'm just doubling it; you'd actually do your longAdd thing
return this.val * 2;
};
var a = new Thing(1);
var b = new Thing(2);
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
Or with ES2015's class:
class Thing {
constructor(val) {
this.val = val;
}
valueOf() {
return this.val * 2;
}
}
const a = new Thing(1);
const b = new Thing(2);
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
Or just with objects, no constructors:
var thingPrototype = {
valueOf: function() {
return this.val * 2;
}
};
var a = Object.create(thingPrototype);
a.val = 1;
var b = Object.create(thingPrototype);
b.val = 2;
console.log(a + b); // 6 (1 * 2 + 2 * 2)
toString
This example converts the value of an object's val property to upper case in response to being coerced to a primitive, for instance via +:
function Thing(val) {
this.val = val;
}
Thing.prototype.toString = function() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
};
var a = new Thing("a");
var b = new Thing("b");
console.log(a + b); // AB
Or with ES2015's class:
class Thing {
constructor(val) {
this.val = val;
}
toString() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
}
}
const a = new Thing("a");
const b = new Thing("b");
console.log(a + b); // AB
Or just with objects, no constructors:
var thingPrototype = {
toString: function() {
return this.val.toUpperCase();
}
};
var a = Object.create(thingPrototype);
a.val = "a";
var b = Object.create(thingPrototype);
b.val = "b";
console.log(a + b); // AB
As T.J. said, you cannot overload operators in JavaScript. However you can take advantage of the valueOf function to write a hack which looks better than using functions like add every time, but imposes the constraints on the vector that the x and y are between 0 and MAX_VALUE. Here is the code:
var MAX_VALUE = 1000000;
var Vector = function(a, b) {
var self = this;
//initialize the vector based on parameters
if (typeof(b) == "undefined") {
//if the b value is not passed in, assume a is the hash of a vector
self.y = a % MAX_VALUE;
self.x = (a - self.y) / MAX_VALUE;
} else {
//if b value is passed in, assume the x and the y coordinates are the constructors
self.x = a;
self.y = b;
}
//return a hash of the vector
this.valueOf = function() {
return self.x * MAX_VALUE + self.y;
};
};
var V = function(a, b) {
return new Vector(a, b);
};
Then you can write equations like this:
var a = V(1, 2); //a -> [1, 2]
var b = V(2, 4); //b -> [2, 4]
var c = V((2 * a + b) / 2); //c -> [2, 4]
It's possible to do vector math with two numbers packed into one. Let me first show an example before I explain how it works:
let a = vec_pack([2,4]);
let b = vec_pack([1,2]);
let c = a+b; // Vector addition
let d = c-b; // Vector subtraction
let e = d*2; // Scalar multiplication
let f = e/2; // Scalar division
console.log(vec_unpack(c)); // [3, 6]
console.log(vec_unpack(d)); // [2, 4]
console.log(vec_unpack(e)); // [4, 8]
console.log(vec_unpack(f)); // [2, 4]
if(a === f) console.log("Equality works");
if(a > b) console.log("Y value takes priority");
I am using the fact that if you bit shift two numbers X times and then add or subtract them before shifting them back, you will get the same result as if you hadn't shifted them to begin with. Similarly scalar multiplication and division works symmetrically for shifted values.
A JavaScript number has 52 bits of integer precision (64 bit floats), so I will pack one number into he higher available 26 bits, and one into the lower. The code is made a bit more messy because I wanted to support signed numbers.
function vec_pack(vec){
return vec[1] * 67108864 + (vec[0] < 0 ? 33554432 | vec[0] : vec[0]);
}
function vec_unpack(number){
switch(((number & 33554432) !== 0) * 1 + (number < 0) * 2){
case(0):
return [(number % 33554432),Math.trunc(number / 67108864)];
break;
case(1):
return [(number % 33554432)-33554432,Math.trunc(number / 67108864)+1];
break;
case(2):
return [(((number+33554432) % 33554432) + 33554432) % 33554432,Math.round(number / 67108864)];
break;
case(3):
return [(number % 33554432),Math.trunc(number / 67108864)];
break;
}
}
The only downside I can see with this is that the x and y has to be in the range +-33 million, since they have to fit within 26 bits each.
Actually, there is one variant of JavaScript that does support operator overloading. ExtendScript, the scripting language used by Adobe applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator, does have operator overloading. In it, you can write:
Vector2.prototype["+"] = function( b )
{
return new Vector2( this.x + b.x, this.y + b.y );
}
var a = new Vector2(1,1);
var b = new Vector2(2,2);
var c = a + b;
This is described in more detail in the "Adobe Extendscript JavaScript tools guide" (current link here). The syntax was apparently based on a (now long abandoned) draft of the ECMAScript standard.
FYI paper.js solves this issue by creating PaperScript, a self-contained, scoped javascript with operator overloading of vectors, which it then processing back into javascript.
But the paperscript files need to be specifically specified and processed as such.
We can use React-like Hooks to evaluate arrow function with different values from valueOf method on each iteration.
const a = Vector2(1, 2) // [1, 2]
const b = Vector2(2, 4) // [2, 4]
const c = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [2, 4]
// There arrow function will iterate twice
// 1 iteration: method valueOf return X component
// 2 iteration: method valueOf return Y component
const Vector2 = (function() {
let index = -1
return function(x, y) {
if (typeof x === 'function') {
const calc = x
index = 0, x = calc()
index = 1, y = calc()
index = -1
}
return Object.assign([x, y], {
valueOf() {
return index == -1 ? this.toString() : this[index]
},
toString() {
return `[${this[0]}, ${this[1]}]`
},
len() {
return Math.sqrt(this[0] ** 2 + this[1] ** 2)
}
})
}
})()
const a = Vector2(1, 2)
const b = Vector2(2, 4)
console.log('a = ' + a) // a = [1, 2]
console.log(`b = ${b}`) // b = [2, 4]
const c = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [2, 4]
a[0] = 12
const d = Vector2(() => (2 * a + b) / 2) // [13, 4]
const normalized = Vector2(() => d / d.len()) // [0.955..., 0.294...]
console.log(c, d, normalized)
Library #js-basics/vector uses the same idea for Vector3.
I wrote a library that exploits a bunch of evil hacks to do it in raw JS. It allows expressions like these.
Complex numbers:
>> Complex()({r: 2, i: 0} / {r: 1, i: 1} + {r: -3, i: 2}))
<- {r: -2, i: 1}
Automatic differentiation:
Let f(x) = x^3 - 5x:
>> var f = x => Dual()(x * x * x - {x:5, dx:0} * x);
Now map it over some values:
>> [-2,-1,0,1,2].map(a=>({x:a,dx:1})).map(f).map(a=>a.dx)
<- [ 7, -2, -5, -2, 7 ]
i.e. f'(x) = 3x^2 - 5.
Polynomials:
>> Poly()([1,-2,3,-4]*[5,-6]).map((c,p)=>''+c+'x^'+p).join(' + ')
<- "5x^0 + -16x^1 + 27x^2 + -38x^3 + 24x^4"
For your particular problem, you would define a Vector2 function (or maybe something shorter) using the library, then write x = Vector2()(x + y);
https://gist.github.com/pyrocto/5a068100abd5ff6dfbe69a73bbc510d7
Whilst not an exact answer to the question, it is possible to implement some of the python __magic__ methods using ES6 Symbols
A [Symbol.toPrimitive]() method doesn't let you imply a call Vector.add(), but will let you use syntax such as Decimal() + int.
class AnswerToLifeAndUniverseAndEverything {
[Symbol.toPrimitive](hint) {
if (hint === 'string') {
return 'Like, 42, man';
} else if (hint === 'number') {
return 42;
} else {
// when pushed, most classes (except Date)
// default to returning a number primitive
return 42;
}
}
}
https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/metaprogramming-in-es6-symbols/
Interesting is also experimental library operator-overloading-js . It does overloading in a defined context (callback function) only.

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