I have a data type and function like this:
data Expr = Num Int | Add Expr Expr | Mult Expr Expr | Neg Expr | If Expr Expr Expr deriving (Show, Read)
prettyPrint :: Expr -> IO ()
prettyPrint expr = prettyPrint' expr 0
prettyPrint' :: Expr -> Int -> IO ()
prettyPrint' (Num x) i = putStrLn $ concat (replicate i " ") ++ "Num " ++ show x
prettyPrint' (Add x y) i = do
putStrLn $ concat (replicate i " ") ++ "Add"
prettyPrint' x (i+1)
prettyPrint' y (i+1)
prettyPrint' (Mult x y) i = do
putStrLn $ concat (replicate i " ") ++ "Mult"
prettyPrint' x (i+1)
prettyPrint' y (i+1)
prettyPrint' (Neg x) i = do
putStrLn $ concat (replicate i " ") ++ "Neg"
prettyPrint' x (i+1)
prettyPrint' (If x y z) i = do
putStrLn $ concat (replicate i " ") ++ "If"
prettyPrint' x (i+1)
prettyPrint' y (i+1)
prettyPrint' z (i+1)
In the function I am using pattern matching. The problem is that their is a lot of reuse of code. For example, the case for Mult and Add is basically the same code. Same goes for Num and Neg. Is there a way to write this based on how many variables the expression have? Like one for Num and Neg, since they have only one variable. One case for Mult and Add, since they have two variables. And a last case for If, since that expression have three variables.
NOTE:
I landed on this answer, I think it's a better solution than I started with:
prettyPrint :: Expr -> IO ()
prettyPrint expr = putStrLn (prettyPrint' 1 expr)
prettyPrint' :: Int -> Expr -> String
prettyPrint' i (Num x) = "Num " ++ show x
prettyPrint' i expr =
let indent x = concat (replicate i " ") ++ x
(op, args) = case expr of
Add x y -> ("Add", [x,y])
Mult x y -> ("Mult", [x,y])
Neg x -> ("Neg", [x])
If x y z -> ("If", [x,y,z])
in intercalate "\n" (op : map (indent . prettyPrint' (i + 1)) args)