To sort out atoms first and then sublists from a list in LISP

Question

I have this homework in LISP where I need to sort out atoms and then sublists from a list. I\'m sure this is supposed to be easy task but as I\'m not much of a programmer th

Answer 1

Here's an iterative code, constructing its output in a top-down manner (the comment is in Haskell syntax):

;atomsFirst xs = separate xs id id where
;  separate [] f g  = f (g [])
;  separate (x:xs) f g
;      | atom x = separate xs (f.(x:)) g
;      | True   = separate xs f (g.(x:))

(defmacro app (l v)
   `(progn (rplacd ,l (list ,v)) (setq ,l (cdr ,l))))

(defun atoms-first (xs)
  (let* ((f (list nil)) (g (list nil)) (p f) (q g))
    (dolist (x xs)
      (if (atom x) (app p x) (app q x)))
    (rplacd p (cdr g))
    (cdr f)))

The two intermediate lists that are being constructed in a top-down manner are maintained as open-ended lists (i.e. with explicit ending pointer), essentially following the difference-lists paradigm.

Answer 2

You can do this recursive way:

(defun f (lst) 
    (cond 
        ((null lst) nil)
        ((atom (car lst)) 
        (append (list (car lst)) (f (cdr lst)))) 
        (T
            (append (f (cdr lst)) (list (f (car lst))))
        )
    )
)
(step (f '(5 -1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) (0 (9 4)) -6)))

Output:

step 1 --> (F '(5 -1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) ...))                                                                   
step 1 ==> value: (5 -1 -6 (0 (9 4)) (8 7 -3) (2 6 1))

Answer 3

There are several possible approaches in Common Lisp:

• use REMOVE-IF to remove the unwanted items. (Alternatively use REMOVE-IF-NOT to keep the wanted items.) You'll need two lists. Append them.

• use DOLIST and iterate over the list, collect the items into two lists and append them

• write a recursive procedure where you need to keep two result lists.

• it should also be possible to use SORT with a special sort predicate.

Example:

> (sort '(1 (2 6 1) 4 (8 7 -3) 4 1 (0 (9 4)) -6 10 1)
        (lambda (a b)
           (atom a)))

(1 10 -6 1 4 4 1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) (0 (9 4)))

As stable version:

(stable-sort '(1 (2 6 1) 4 (8 7 -3) 4 1 (0 (9 4)) -6 10 1)
             (lambda (a b)
               (and (atom a)
                    (not (atom b)))))

(1 4 4 1 -6 10 1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) (0 (9 4)))

Answer 4

Just in case you will want to exercise more, and you will find that the examples provided here are not enough :P

(defun sort-atoms-first-recursive (x &optional y)
  (cond
    ((null x) y)
    ((consp (car x))
     (sort-atoms-first-recursive (cdr x) (cons (car x) y)))
    (t (cons (car x) (sort-atoms-first-recursive (cdr x) y)))))

(defun sort-atoms-first-loop (x)
  (do ((a x (cdr a))
       (b) (c) (d) (e))
      (nil)
    (if (consp (car a))
      (if b (setf (cdr b) a b (cdr b)) (setf b a d a))
      (if c (setf (cdr c) a c (cdr c)) (setf c a e a)))
    (when (null (cdr a))
      (cond
        ((null d) (return e))
        ((null c) (return d))
        (t (setf (cdr b) nil (cdr c) d) (return e))))))


(sort-atoms-first-recursive '(5 -1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) (0 (9 4)) -6))

(sort-atoms-first-loop '(5 -1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) (0 (9 4)) -6))

The second one is destructive (but doesn't create any new conses).

Answer 5

I am more used to Scheme but here's a solution that works in Lisp:

(defun f (lst)
  (labels 
      ((loop (lst atoms lists)
         (cond
          ((null lst) 
           (append (reverse atoms) (reverse lists)))
          ((atom (car lst))
           (loop (cdr lst) (cons (car lst) atoms) lists))
          (T
           (loop (cdr lst) atoms (cons (car lst) lists))))))
    (loop lst '() '())))

(f '(5 -1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) (0 (9 4)) -6))

Basically you iterate over the list, and each element is either appended to the atoms list or the lists lists. In the end you join both to get your result.

EDIT

The remove-if version is way shorter, of course:

(let ((l '(5 -1 (2 6 1) (8 7 -3) (0 (9 4)) -6)))
   (append
    (remove-if-not #'atom l)
    (remove-if     #'atom l)))