Add BidirectionalCollection.trimming

Guides/Trim.md

@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+# Trim
+
+[[Source](https://github.com/apple/swift-algorithms/blob/main/Sources/Algorithms/Trim.swift) |
+ [Tests](https://github.com/apple/swift-algorithms/blob/main/Tests/SwiftAlgorithmsTests/TrimTests.swift)]
+
+Returns a `SubSequence` formed by discarding all elements at the start and end of the collection
+which satisfy the given predicate.
+
+This example uses `trimming(where:)` to get a substring without the white space at the beginning and end of the string.
+
+```swift
+let myString = "   hello, world  "
+print(myString.trimming(where: \.isWhitespace)) // "hello, world"
+
+let results = [2, 10, 11, 15, 20, 21, 100].trimming(where: { $0.isMultiple(of: 2) })
+print(results) // [11, 15, 20, 21]
+```
+
+## Detailed Design
+
+A new method is added to `BidirectionalCollection`:
+
+```swift
+extension BidirectionalCollection {
+
+  public func trimming(where predicate: (Element) throws -> Bool) rethrows -> SubSequence
+}
+```
+
+This method requires `BidirectionalCollection` for an efficient implementation which visits as few elements as possible.
+
+A less-efficient implementation is _possible_ for any `Collection`, which would involve always traversing the
+entire collection. This implementation is not provided, as it would mean developers of generic algorithms who forget
+to add the `BidirectionalCollection` constraint will receive that inefficient implementation:
+
+```swift
+func myAlgorithm<Input>(input: Input) where Input: Collection {
+
+  let trimmedInput = input.trimming(where: { ... }) // Uses least-efficient implementation.
+}
+
+func myAlgorithm2<Input>(input: Input) where Input: BidirectionalCollection {
+
+  let trimmedInput = input.trimming(where: { ... }) // Uses most-efficient implementation.
+}
+```
+
+Swift provides the `BidirectionalCollection` protocol for marking types which support reverse traversal,
+and generic types and algorithms which want to make use of that should add it to their constraints.
+
+### Complexity
+
+Calling this method is O(_n_).
+
+### Naming
+
+The name `trim` has precedent in other programming languages. Another popular alternative might be `strip`.
+
+| Example usage | Languages |
+|-|-|
+| ''String''.Trim([''chars'']) | C#, VB.NET, Windows PowerShell |
+| ''string''.strip(); | D |
+| (.trim ''string'') | Clojure |
+| ''sequence'' [ predicate? ] trim | Factor |
+| (string-trim '(#\Space #\Tab #\Newline) ''string'') | Common Lisp |
+| (string-trim ''string'') | Scheme |
+| ''string''.trim() | Java, JavaScript (1.8.1+), Rust |
+| Trim(''String'') | Pascal, QBasic, Visual Basic, Delphi |
+| ''string''.strip() | Python |
+| strings.Trim(''string'', ''chars'') | Go |
+| LTRIM(RTRIM(''String'')) | Oracle SQL, T-SQL |
+| string:strip(''string'' [,''option'', ''char'']) | Erlang |
+| ''string''.strip or ''string''.lstrip or ''string''.rstrip | Ruby |
+| trim(''string'') | PHP, Raku |
+| [''string'' stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet whitespaceAndNewlineCharacterSet]] | Objective-C/Cocoa |
+| ''string'' withBlanksTrimmed ''string'' withoutSpaces ''string'' withoutSeparators | Smalltalk |
+| string trim ''$string'' | Tcl |
+| TRIM(''string'') or TRIM(ADJUSTL(''string'')) | Fortran |
+| TRIM(''string'') | SQL |
+| String.trim ''string'' | OCaml 4+ |
+
+Note: This is an abbreviated list from Wikipedia. [Full table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_programming_languages_(string_functions)#trim)
+
+The standard library includes a variety of methods which perform similar operations:
+
+- Firstly, there are `dropFirst(Int)` and `dropLast(Int)`. These return slices but do not support user-defined predicates.
+  If the collection's `count` is less than the number of elements to drop, they return an empty slice.
+- Secondly, there is `drop(while:)`, which also returns a slice and is equivalent to a 'left-trim' (trimming from the head but not the tail).
+  If the entire collection is dropped, this method returns an empty slice.
+- Thirdly, there are `removeFirst(Int)` and `removeLast(Int)` which do not return slices and actually mutate the collection.
+  If the collection's `count` is less than the number of elements to remove, this method triggers a runtime error.
+- Lastly, there are the `popFirst()` and `popLast()` methods, which work like `removeFirst()` and `removeLast()`,
+  except they do not trigger a runtime error for empty collections.
+
+The closest neighbours to this function would be the `drop` family of methods. Unfortunately, unlike `dropFirst(Int)`,
+the name `drop(while:)` does not specify which end(s) of the collection it operates on. Moreover, one could easily
+mistake code such as:
+
+```swift
+let result = myString.drop(while: \.isWhitespace)
+```
+
+With a lazy filter that drops _all_ whitespace characters regardless of where they are in the string.
+Besides that, the root `trim` leads to clearer, more conscise code, which is more aligned with other programming
+languages:
+
+```swift
+// Does `result` contain the input, trimmed of certain elements?
+// Or does this code mutate `input` in-place and return the elements which were dropped?
+let result = input.dropFromBothEnds(where: { ... })
+
+// No such ambiguity here.
+let result = input.trimming(where: { ... })
+```

README.md

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Read more about the package, and the intent behind it, in the [announcement on s
 
 - [`chunked(by:)`, `chunked(on:)`](https://github.com/apple/swift-algorithms/blob/main/Guides/Chunked.md): Eager and lazy operations that break a collection into chunks based on either a binary predicate or when the result of a projection changes.
 - [`indexed()`](https://github.com/apple/swift-algorithms/blob/main/Guides/Indexed.md): Iterate over tuples of a collection's indices and elements. 
+- [`trimming(where:)`](https://github.com/apple/swift-algorithms/blob/main/Guides/Trim.md): Returns a slice by trimming elements from a collection's start and end. 
 
 
 ## Adding Swift Algorithms as a Dependency

Sources/Algorithms/Trim.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+//
+// This source file is part of the Swift Algorithms open source project
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2020 Apple Inc. and the Swift project authors
+// Licensed under Apache License v2.0 with Runtime Library Exception
+//
+// See https://swift.org/LICENSE.txt for license information
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+extension BidirectionalCollection {
+
+  /// Returns a `SubSequence` formed by discarding all elements at the start and end of the collection
+  /// which satisfy the given predicate.
+  ///
+  /// This example uses `trimming(where:)` to get a substring without the white space at the
+  /// beginning and end of the string:
+  ///
+  ///  ```
+  ///  let myString = "  hello, world  "
+  ///  print(myString.trimming(where: \.isWhitespace)) // "hello, world"
+  ///  ```
+  ///
+  /// - parameters:
+  ///    - predicate:  A closure which determines if the element should be omitted from the
+  ///                  resulting slice.
+  ///
+  /// - complexity: `O(n)`, where `n` is the length of this collection.
+  ///
+  @inlinable
+  public func trimming(
+    where predicate: (Element) throws -> Bool
+  ) rethrows -> SubSequence {
+
+    // Consume elements from the front.
+    let sliceStart = try firstIndex { try predicate($0) == false } ?? endIndex
+    // sliceEnd is the index _after_ the last index to match the predicate.
+    var sliceEnd = endIndex
+    while sliceStart != sliceEnd {
+      let idxBeforeSliceEnd = index(before: sliceEnd)
+      guard try predicate(self[idxBeforeSliceEnd]) else {
+        return self[sliceStart..<sliceEnd]
+      }
+      sliceEnd = idxBeforeSliceEnd
+    }
+    // Trimmed everything.
+    return self[Range(uncheckedBounds: (sliceStart, sliceStart))]
+  }
+}

Tests/SwiftAlgorithmsTests/TrimTests.swift

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+//
+// This source file is part of the Swift Algorithms open source project
+//
+// Copyright (c) 2020 Apple Inc. and the Swift project authors
+// Licensed under Apache License v2.0 with Runtime Library Exception
+//
+// See https://swift.org/LICENSE.txt for license information
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+import Algorithms
+import XCTest
+
+final class TrimTests: XCTestCase {
+
+  func testEmpty() {
+    let results_empty = ([] as [Int]).trimming { $0.isMultiple(of: 2) }
+    XCTAssertEqual(results_empty, [])
+  }
+
+  func testNoMatch() {
+    // No match (nothing trimmed).
+    let results_nomatch = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15].trimming {
+      $0.isMultiple(of: 2)
+    }
+    XCTAssertEqual(results_nomatch, [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15])
+  }
+
+  func testNoTailMatch() {
+    // No tail match (only trim head).
+    let results_notailmatch = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15].trimming { $0 < 10 }
+    XCTAssertEqual(results_notailmatch, [11, 13, 15])
+  }
+
+  func testNoHeadMatch() {
+    // No head match (only trim tail).
+    let results_noheadmatch = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15].trimming { $0 > 10 }
+    XCTAssertEqual(results_noheadmatch, [1, 3, 5, 7, 9])
+  }
+
+  func testBothEndsMatch() {
+    // Both ends match, some string of >1 elements do not (return that string).
+    let results = [2, 10, 11, 15, 20, 21, 100].trimming { $0.isMultiple(of: 2) }
+    XCTAssertEqual(results, [11, 15, 20, 21])
+  }
+
+  func testEverythingMatches() {
+    // Everything matches (trim everything).
+    let results_allmatch = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15].trimming { _ in true }
+    XCTAssertEqual(results_allmatch, [])
+  }
+
+  func testEverythingButOneMatches() {
+    // Both ends match, one element does not (trim all except that element).
+    let results_one = [2, 10, 12, 15, 20, 100].trimming { $0.isMultiple(of: 2) }
+    XCTAssertEqual(results_one, [15])
+  }
+}