wig ( where is grep )

Make grep prettier, put a wig on it!

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Synopsis

use wig;

my @even = @numbers.where(* %% 2);

my @matches = @data.where(/pattern/);

my @prod_servers = @servers.where(*.status eq 'Production');

my @jpgs = %*ENV<HOME>.IO.dir.where: *.basename.ends-with( '.jpg' | '.jpeg' );

Description

This module adds a new method (and function) called where that is essentially an 'alias' for grep.

The term grep is kind of a misnomer, and unfamiliar to a lot of people. Using where allows you to filter items in a way that reads much more like English, particularly when used in the method form.

This idea was originally a language proposal and my hope is that it makes its way into the language proper.

Celebrity Endorsements

I like the idea of "where" instead of "grep" - lizmat

Limitations / Issues

Rakudo currently has a cache invalidation issue where child classes don't automatically inherit augmented methods from a Parent class (in this case, the Any class).

Until this is fixed, the work around is is to call .^compose on your desired child classes. I haven't called it on every class under Any (there's a lot!), just the ones grep is used with commonly.

If a class hasn't been recomposed and you try to call where on it, Rakudo will report the error Method 'where' not found for invocant of class 'ClassName'.

As a quickfix, just call ClassName.^compose; after use wig;. Alternatively you can modify the module source.

If you think I've missed a very important class that I shouldn't have, please let me know (Issues | Submit a PR | irc://freenode, #perl6, user: perlawhirl).

License

Artistic. Refer to the LICENSE file in the distribution.