README.md

QuickTypes

Types are central to Julia programming, but the built-in struct and mutable struct definitions can be cumbersome to write. QuickTypes.jl provides two alternative macros, @qstruct and @qmutable, with a more convenient syntax:

using QuickTypes      # install with Pkg.add("QuickTypes")

# Equivalent to
# struct Wall
#    width
#    height
# end
@qstruct Wall(width, height)

# Optional and keyword-arguments
@qstruct Cat(name, age::Int, nlegs=4; species="Siamese")

# Parametric type
@qstruct Pack{T}(animals::Vector{T})

# Inheritance
abstract type Tree end
@qstruct Maple(qty_syrup::Float64) <: Tree

# Mutable structs work the same way
@qmutable Window(height::Float64, width::Float64)

# Arguments can be validated using do-syntax
@qstruct Human(name, height::Float64) do
    @assert height > 0    # arbitrary code, executed in the constructor
end

# Functors (see ?@qfunctor for details)
@qfunctor Adder(x::Int)(y) = x + y
Adder(10)(20)

More options

# _concise_show takes out the type parameters when printing the object
@qstruct Group{X}(members::X; _concise_show=true)
Group([1,1+1])
> Group([1,2])            # instead of Group{Array{Int64,1}}([1,2])

# `_fp` (for Fully Parametric) automatically adds type parameters. For example:
@qstruct_fp Plane(nwheels, weight::Number; brand=:zoomba)
# is equivalent to `@qstruct Plane{T, U <: Number, V}(nwheels::T, weight::U; brand::V=:zoomba)`
# For even greater specialization, see `?@qstruct_np`.

See also Parameters.jl.

Destructuring objects

@destruct is used to destructure objects.

struct House
    owner
    price
    n_windows
end

@destruct function energy_cost(House(o; n_windows))
    return o == "Bob" ? 10000 : n_windows * 5
end

becomes

function energy_cost(temp_var::House)
    o = getfield(temp_var, 1)         # get the first field
    n_windows = temp_var.n_windows

    return o == "Bob" ? 10000 : n_windows * 5
end

This enables syntax like @destruct mean_price(DataFrame(; price)) = mean(price). Destructuring can also be applied to assignments with @destruct Ref(x) := ... and for loops. It can be nested: @destruct energy_cost(House(Landlord(name, age))) = ...

Type annotations on fields do not participate in dispatch, but are instead converted to.

julia> @d foo(Ref(a::Int)) = a
foo (generic function with 1 method)

julia> foo(Ref(2.0))
2  # not 2.0

@d ... is a synonym for @destruct. Import it with using QuickTypes: @d.