Avoiding Scala memory leaks - Scala constructors

Question

Hi!

I was working through the "Programming in Scala" book, and was struck by a bit of a problem in the implementation of the class Rational in Chapter 6.

This is my initial version of the Rational class (based on the book)

class Rational(numerator: Int, denominator: Int) {
  require(denominator != 0)

  private val g = gcd(numerator.abs, denominator.abs)

  val numer = numerator / g
  val denom = denominator / g

  override def toString  = numer + "/" + denom

  private def gcd(a: Int, b: Int): Int =
    if(b == 0) a else gcd(b, a % b)

  // other methods go here, neither access g
}

The problem here is that the field g remains for the lifetime of the class, even if never again accessed. This problem can be seen by running the following mock program:

object Test extends Application {

  val a = new Rational(1, 2)
  val fields = a.getClass.getDeclaredFields

  for(field <- fields) {
    println("Field name: " + field.getName)
    field.setAccessible(true)
    println(field.get(a) + "\n")
  }  

}

Its output is going to be:

Field: denom
2

Field: numer
1

Field: g
1

A solution I found at the Scala Wiki involves the following:

class Rational(numerator: Int, denominator: Int) {
  require(denominator != 0)

  val (numer, denom) = { 
    val g = gcd(numerator.abs, denominator.abs)
    (numerator / g, denominator / g)
  }

  override def toString  = numer + "/" + denom

  private def gcd(a: Int, b: Int): Int =
    if(b == 0) a else gcd(b, a % b)

  // other methods go here
}

Here, the field g is only local to its block, but, running the small test application, I found another field x$1 which keeps a copy of the tuple consisting of (numer, denom)!

Field: denom
2

Field: numer
1

Field: x$1
(1,2)

Is there any way to construct a rational in Scala with the above algorithm, without causing any memory leaks?

Thanks,

Flaviu Cipcigan

Answer 1

You could do this:

val numer = numerator / gcd(numerator.abs, denominator.abs)
val denom = denominator / gcd(numerator.abs, denominator.abs)

Of course you'd have to do the calculation twice. But then optimizations are often a trade-off between memory/space and execution time.

Maybe there are other ways too, but then the program might get overly complex, and if there's one place where optimization is rarely premature, it's brain power optimization :). For instance, you could probably do this:

val numer = numerator / gcd(numerator.abs, denominator.abs)
val denom = denominator / (numerator / numer)

But it doesn't necessarily make the code more understandable.

(Note: I didn't actually try this, so use at your own risk.)

Answer 2

A companion object can provide the flexibility you need. It can define a "static" factory methods that replace the constructor.

object Rational{

    def apply(numerator: Int, denominator: Int) = {
     def gcd(a: Int, b: Int): Int = if(b == 0) a else gcd(b, a % b)
     val g = gcd(numerator, denominator)
     new Rational(numerator / g, denominator / g)
    }
}

class Rational(numerator: Int, denominator: Int) {
  require(denominator != 0)

  override def toString  = numerator + "/" + denominator
  // other methods go here, neither access g
}

val r = Rational(10,200)

In the scope of the factory method g can be calculate and used to the derive the two constructor values.

Answer 3

There's a small problem with Thomas Jung's example; it still allows you to create a Rational object with a common term in the numerator and denominator - if you create the Rational object using 'new' yourself, instead of via the companion object:

val r = new Rational(10, 200) // Oops! Creating a Rational with a common term

You can avoid this by requiring client code to always use the companion object to create a Rational object, by making the implicit constructor private:

class Rational private (numerator: Int, denominator: Int) {
 // ...
}

Answer 4

You could do this:

object Rational {
    def gcd(a: Int, b: Int): Int =
        if(b == 0) a else gcd(b, a % b)
}

class Rational private (n: Int, d: Int, g: Int) {
    require(d != 0)

    def this(n: Int, d: Int) = this(n, d, Rational.gcd(n.abs, d.abs))

    val numer = n / g

    val denom = d / g

    override def toString = numer + "/" + denom

}

Answer 5

... actually, I don't see how this constitutes a "memory leak".

You declare a final field within the scope of the class instance, and are then apparently surprised that it "hangs around". What behaviour did you expect?

Am I missing something here?

Answer 6

I came across this article which you might find useful: http://daily-scala.blogspot.com/2010/02/temporary-variables-during-object.html

It seems you could write this:

class Rational(numerator: Int, denominator: Int) {
  require(denominator != 0)

  val (numer,denom) = {
      val g = gcd(numerator.abs, denominator.abs)
      (numerator/g, denominator/g)
  }

  override def toString  = numer + "/" + denom

  private def gcd(a: Int, b: Int): Int =
    if(b == 0) a else gcd(b, a % b)

  // other methods go here, neither access g
}