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Iteration

The primary means of iteration in q are

  • atomic functions
  • the map iterators: Each and its variants
  • the accumulating iterators Scan and Over

Atomic functions

Atomic functions apply to atoms in their arguments, and preserve structure to arbitrary depth.

Many of the q operators that take numerical arguments are atomic.

The arguments of an atomic function must conform: they must be lists with the same count, or atoms.

When an atom argument is applied to a list, it is applied to every item.

q)2 3 4 + 5 6 7          / same-count lists
7 9 11
q)2 + 3 4 5              / atom and list
5 6 7

This is called scalar extension. It applies at every level of nesting.

q)2+(3 4;`a`b`c!5 6 7;(8 9;10;11 12 13);14)
5 6
`a`b`c!7 8 9
(10 11;12;13 14 15)
16

Iterators

The iterators are unary operators. They take values as arguments and derive functions that apply them repeatedly.

Value

A applicable value is a q object that can be indexed or applied to one or more arguments:

  • function: operator, keyword, lambda, or derived function
  • list: vector, mixed list, matrix, or table
  • dictionary
  • file- or process handle

The iterators can be applied postfix, and almost always are. For example, the Over iterator / applied to the Add operator + derives the function +/, which reduces a list by summing it.

q)(+/)2 3 4 5
14

There are two groups of iterators: maps and accumulators.

Maps

The maps – Each, Each Left, Each Right, Each Prior, and Each Parallel – apply a map to each item of a list or dictionary.

q)count "zero"                             / count the chars (items) in a string
4
q)(count')("The";"quick";"brown";"fox")    / count each string
3 5 5 3

Accumulators

The accumulators – Scan and Over – apply a value successively, first to the argument, then to the results of successive applications.

Control words

The control words if, do, and while also enable iteration, but are rarely required.