Scala: Constraint on generic class type

Question

Hi, I am very new to Scala.

I want to implement a generic matrix class "class Matrix[T]". The only constraint on T should be that T should implement a "+" and a "*" mothod/function. How do I go about doing this?

For example I want to be able to use both Int, Double, and my own defined types e.g. Complex

I was thinking something along the lines:

class Matrix[T <: MatrixElement[T]](data: Array[Array[T]]) {
   def *(that: Matrix) = ..// code that uses "+" and "*" on the elements
}
abstract class MatrixElement[T] {
    def +(that: T): T
    def *(that: T): T 
}
implicit object DoubleMatrixElement extends MatrixElement[Double]{
    def +(that: Double): Double = this + that
    def *(that: Double): Double = this * that 
}
implicit object ComplexMatrixElement extends MatrixElement[Complex]{
    def +(that: Complex): Complex = this + that
    def *(that: Complex): Complex = this * that 
}

Everything type checks but I still can't instantiate a matrix. Am I missing an implicit constructor? How would I go about making that? Or am I completely wrong about my method?

Thanks in advance Troels

Answer 1

You can use Numeric for Scala 2.8 for that. It is describe here. It would replace MatrixElement and its implementations:

class Matrix[T : Numeric](data: Array[Array[T]]) {
   def *(that: Matrix[T]) = //
}

Answer 2

Here's how the Numeric solution would look:

// ': Numeric[T]' adds an implicit parameter to the constructor,
// which allows T to be used in arithmetic expressions.
class Matrix[T: Numeric](val data: Array[Array[T]]) {
   def *(that: Matrix[T]) = {
       val nt = implicitly[Numeric[T]]
       import nt._  // This imports an Implicit View to allow operator syntax

       this.data(0)(0) * that.data(0)(0)
       // etc
   }
}

Answer 3

Finally found the answer :-) I think I wasn't that far off in my first try. Here it goes: (written for scala 2.8)

trait MatrixElement[T] {
    def +(that: T): T
    def *(that: T): T 
}

object MatrixElement {
    implicit def intToMatrixElement(x : Int) = new MatrixElement[Int] {
        def +(y : Int) = x + y
        def *(y : Int) = x * y
    }
    implicit def doubleToMatrixElement(x : Double) = new MatrixElement[Double] {
        def +(y : Double) = x + y
        def *(y : Double) = x * y
    }
    implicit def complexToMatrixElement(x : Complex) = new MatrixElement[Complex] {
        def +(y : Complex) = x + y
        def *(y : Complex) = x * y
    }
}

class Matrix[T  <% MatrixElement[T] : ClassManifest ](d: Array[Array[T]]) {
    def *(that: Matrix) = ..// code that uses "+" and "*" on the elements
}

Now I can do stuff like:

scala> new Matrix(Array(Array(1,0),Array(0,1)))
res0: Matrix[Int] = 
1 0 
0 1 

scala> new Matrix(Array(Array(new Complex(0),new Complex(1)),Array(new Complex(1),new Complex(0))))
res9: Matrix[Complex] = 
(0.0,0.0i) (1.0,0.0i) 
(1.0,0.0i) (0.0,0.0i)