Generate lazy "spiral" in Scala

Question

Task: For a given position in 2D array generate list of surrounding positions located in radius.

For example:

input: (1, 1)
radius: 1
output: ( (0, 0), (1, 0), (2, 0), 
          (0, 1),         (2, 1),
          (0, 2), (1, 2), (2, 2) ).

I wrote something like

def getPositions(x:Int, y:Int, r:Int) = {
  for(radius <- 1 to r) yield {
    List(
      for (dx <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x + dx, y - radius),
      for (dx <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x + dx, y + radius),
      for (dy <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x + radius, y + dy),
      for (dy <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x - radius, y + dy)
    )
  }
}

In this code getPositions returns not a sequance of points, but a sequance of Tuple4 of sequances of points. How can I "concatenate" 4 generators listed in code? Or is there more concise solution for my task? (I'm pretty new to scala).

P.S. It's actually for my starcraft bot.

Answer 1

You need to flatten the List (twice), so this would do:

def getPositions(x:Int, y:Int, r:Int) = {
  for(radius <- 1 to r) yield {
    List(
      for (dx <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x + dx, y - radius),
      for (dx <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x + dx, y + radius),
      for (dy <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x + radius, y + dy),
      for (dy <- -radius to radius) yield Pair(x - radius, y + dy)
    ).flatten
  }
}.flatten

It’s not a ‘lazy’ spiral, though.

Edit

That one is lazy:

def P(i:Int, j:Int) = { print("eval"); Pair(i,j) }

def lazyPositions(x:Int, y:Int, r:Int) = {
  (1 to r).toStream.flatMap{ radius =>

    (-radius to radius).toStream.map(dx => P(x + dx, y - radius)) #:::
    (-radius to radius).toStream.map(dx => P(x + dx, y + radius)) #:::
    (-radius to radius).toStream.map(dy => P(x + radius, y + dy)) #:::
    (-radius to radius).toStream.map(dy => P(x - radius, y + dy))
  }
}


print(lazyPositions(1,1,1).take(3).toList) # prints exactly three times ‘eval’.

I’ve used the def P method to show the real laziness. Everytime, you’d create a Pair, it gets called. In a lazy solution, you’d only want this on demand.

Answer 2

Try this:

object Spiral
{
    def
    getPositions(x: Int, y: Int, r: Int): Seq[(Int, Int)] = {
      for { radius <- 1 to r
            dx <- -radius to radius
            dy <- -radius to radius
            if dx != 0 || dy != 0
      } yield
          (x + dx, y + dy)
    }


    def
    main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
        printf("getPositions(1, 1, 1): %s%n", getPositions(0, 0, 1).mkString("{ ", ", ", " }"))
    }
}

Output:

getPositions(1, 1, 1): { (-1,-1), (-1,0), (-1,1), (0,-1), (0,1), (1,-1), (1,0), (1,1) }

Answer 3

You can form your ranges directly, and use flatMap and ++ to join the lists together as they're made, and you might like to go in a circular direction also:

def getPositions(x: Int, y: Int, r: Int) = {
  (1 to r) flatMap (radius => {
    val dx = -radius to radius
    val dy = -(radius-1) to (radius-1)
    dx.map(i => (x+i, y+radius)) ++ dy.map(i => (x+radius, y-i)) ++
    dx.map(i => (x-i, y-radius)) ++ dy.map(i => (x-radius, y+i))
  })
}

If you really want the result to be lazy, you'll have to do the same with lazy components:

def getPositions(x: Int, y: Int, r: Int) = {
  Stream.range(1,r+1) flatMap (radius => {
    val dx = Stream.range(-radius,radius+1)
    val dy = Stream.range(-(radius+1),radius)
    dx.map(i => (x+i, y+radius)) ++ dy.map(i => (x+radius, y-i)) ++
    dx.map(i => (x-i, y-radius)) ++ dy.map(i => (x-radius, y+i))
  })
}

Edit: fixed a dx vs. dy typo.

Answer 4

Here are a few solutions to this problem. First, if you do not care for the order, just the positions, this will do:

def getPositions(x:Int, y:Int, r:Int) = for {
  yr <- y - r to y + r
  xr <- x - r to x + r
  if xr != x || yr != y
} yield (xr, yr)

That will give the exact same output you specified. However, you want a Python-style generator, so this would be more appropriate:

def getPositions(x:Int, y:Int, r:Int) = Iterator.range(y - r, y + r + 1) flatMap {
  yr => Iterator.range(x - r, x + r + 1) map { 
    xr => (xr, yr)
  }
} filter (_ != (x, y))

That will return an Iterator, which you can iterate through using next. Check for the end using hasNext.

You may replace Iterator with List or Stream or stuff like that and get a fully generated collection.

Now, let's assume you want a spiral starting at the center and moving one position at a time. We could do it with something like this:

def getPositions(x:Int, y:Int, r:Int) = new Iterator[(Int, Int)] {
  private var currentX = x
  private var currentY = y
  private var currentR = 1
  private var incX = 0
  private var incY = 1
  def next = {
    currentX += incX
    currentY += incY
    val UpperLeft = (x - currentR, y + currentR)
    val UpperRight = (x + currentR, y + currentR)
    val LowerLeft = (x - currentR, y - currentR)
    val LowerRight = (x + currentR, y - currentR)
    val PrevSpiral = (x, y + currentR)
    val NextSpiral = (x - 1, y + currentR)
    (currentX, currentY) match {
      case NextSpiral => incX = 1; incY = 1; currentR += 1
      case PrevSpiral => incX = 1; incY = 0
      case UpperLeft => incX = 1; incY = 0
      case UpperRight => incX = 0; incY = -1
      case LowerRight => incX = -1; incY = 0
      case LowerLeft => incX = 0; incY = 1
      case _ =>
    }
    if (currentR > r)
      throw new NoSuchElementException("next on empty iterator")
    (currentX, currentY)
  }
  def hasNext = currentR <= r
}

Answer 5

Here's a stream that walks around the edges.

Assuming input (3,3),2 gives

{(1,1), (2,1), (3,1), (4,1), (5,1),
 (1,2),                      (5,2),
 (1,3),                      (5,3),
 (1,4),                      (5,4),
 (1,5), (2,5), (3,5), (4,5), (5,5)}

then you could use the following:

def border(p: (Int,Int), r: Int) = {
  val X1 = p._1 - r
  val X2 = p._1 + r
  val Y1 = p._2 - r
  val Y2 = p._2 + r
  def stream(currentPoint: (Int,Int)): Stream[(Int,Int)] = {
    val nextPoint = currentPoint match {
      case (X1, Y1) => (X1+1, Y1)
      case (X2, Y2) => (X2-1, Y2)
      case (X1, Y2) => (X1, Y2-1)
      case (X2, Y1) => (X2, Y1+1)
      case (x, Y1) => (x+1, Y1)
      case (x, Y2) => (x-1, Y2)
      case (X1, y) => (X1, y-1)
      case (X2, y) => (X2, y+1)
    }
    Stream.cons(nextPoint, if (nextPoint == (X1,Y1)) Stream.empty else stream(nextPoint))
  }
  stream((X1,Y1))
}

Usage:

scala> val b = border((3,3),2)
b: Stream[(Int, Int)] = Stream((2,1), ?)

scala> b.toList
res24: List[(Int, Int)] = List((2,1), (3,1), (4,1), (5,1), (5,2), (5,3), (5,4), (5,5), (4,5), (3,5), (2,5), (1,5), (1,4), (1,3), (1,2), (1,1))