# Types¶

Julia has two different kinds of types: bittypes (like Int64, Int32, UInt32 and Char) and composite types.

Here is an example of an inbuilt composite type representing complex numbers, for example, $$x= 1+i$$

In [110]:
x=1+2im

Out[110]:
1 + 2im
In [111]:
typeof(x)

Out[111]:
Complex{Int64}

A complex number consists of two fields: a real part (denoted re) and an imaginary part (denoted im). Fields of a type can be accessed using the . notation:

In [112]:
x.re

Out[112]:
1
In [113]:
x.im

Out[113]:
2

We can also make our own types. Let's make a type to represent complex numbers in the format $$z=rexp(i\theta)$$ That is, we want to create a type with two fields: r and θ. This is done using the type syntax, followed by a list of names for the fields, and finally the keyword end

In [101]:
type MyComplex
r
θ
end

In [102]:
z=MyComplex(1,0.1)

Out[102]:
MyComplex(1,0.1)

We can access fields for our new type using .r and .θ:

In [103]:
z.r,z.θ

Out[103]:
(1,0.1)

# Functions¶

Functions are created using the keyword function, followed by a name for the function, and in parentheses a list of arguments. Let's make a function that takes in a single number $x$ and returns $x^2$.

In [104]:
function sq(x)
x^2
end

Out[104]:
sq (generic function with 1 method)
In [105]:
sq(2),sq(3)

Out[105]:
(4,9)

Multiple arguments to the function can be included with ,. Here's a function that takes in 3 arguments and returns the average. (We write it on 3 lines only to show that functions can take multiple lines.)

In [108]:
function av(x,y,z)
ret=x+y
ret=ret+z
ret/3
end

Out[108]:
av (generic function with 1 method)
In [109]:
av(1,2,3)

Out[109]:
2.0

Variables live in different scopes. In the previous example, x, y, z and ret are local variables: they only exist inside of av. So this means x and z are not the same as our complex number x and z defined above.

Warning: if you reference variables not defined inside the function, they will use the outer scope definition. The following example shows that if we mistype the first argument as xx, then it takes on the outer scope definition x, which is a complex number

In [114]:
function av2(xx,y,z)
(x+y+z)/3
end

Out[114]:
av2 (generic function with 1 method)
In [115]:
av2(5,6,7)

Out[115]:
4.666666666666667 + 0.6666666666666666im

You should almost never use this feature!! We should ideally be able to predict the output of a function from knowing just the inputs.

### Functions of Vectors¶

We can define functions for other types, for example vectors. Let's create a function that calculates the average of the entries of a vector. We want the function to work for general length vectors, so let's create vectors v and w of different lengths:

In [116]:
v=rand(Int,5)
w=rand(Int,10)

length(v),length(w)

Out[116]:
(5,10)

To implement the function, we need to use a for loop, using the for keyword. The following syntax evaluates the body of the for loop (between the lines after the for and before the end) one by one for k equal to every number in the range 1:10.

In [118]:
for k=1:5
k2=k^2
println(k2)
end

1
4
9
16
25


This is exactly the same as the following block of text, but without having to write it out explicitely

In [119]:
k=1
k2=k^2
println(k2)

k=2
k2=k^2
println(k2)

k=3
k2=k^2
println(k2)

k=4
k2=k^2
println(k2)

k=5
k2=k^2
println(k2)

1
4
9
16
25


We can use a for loop to step k through every index of a vector. The following calculates the sum of the entries of the vector, printing out the current value for each value of k

In [120]:
v=[1,5,6,3]
ret=0
for k=1:length(v)
ret=ret+v[k]
println("At step $k, the current sum is$ret")
end
ret

At step 1, the current sum is 1

Out[120]:
15
At step 2, the current sum is 6
At step 3, the current sum is 12
At step 4, the current sum is 15


We are now ready to write a function that calculates the average of the entries of a vector:

In [39]:
function vecav(v)
ret=0
for k=1:length(v)
ret=ret+v[k]
end
ret/length(v)
end

Out[39]:
vecav (generic function with 1 method)
In [122]:
vecav([1,5,2,3,8,2])

Out[122]:
3.5

julia has an inbuilt sum command that we can use to check our code:

In [123]:
sum([1,5,2,3,8,2])/6

Out[123]:
3.5

## Functions with type signatures¶

functions can be defined only for specific types using :: after the variable name. The same function name can be used with different type signatures.

The following defines a function mydot that calculates the dot product, with a definition changing depending on whether it is an Integer or a Vector. Note that Integer means any kind of integer: mydot is defined for pairs of Int64's, Int32's, etc.

In [124]:
function mydot(a::Integer,b::Integer)
a*b
end

function mydot(a::Vector,b::Vector)
# we assume length(a)  == length(b)
ret=0
for k=1:length(a)
ret=ret+a[k]*b[k]
end
ret
end

Out[124]:
mydot (generic function with 2 methods)
In [125]:
mydot(5,6)  # calls the first definition

Out[125]:
30
In [126]:
mydot(Int8(5),Int8(6))   # also calls the first definition

Out[126]:
30
In [127]:
mydot([1,2,3],[4,5,6])    # calls the second definition

Out[127]:
32
In [128]:
mydot([1,2,3,4],[4,5,6])     # an error is thrown because length(a) > length(b)

LoadError: BoundsError: attempt to access 3-element Array{Int64,1}:
4
5
6
at index [4]

in mydot at In[124]:9

We should actually check that the lengths of a and b match. Let's rewrite mydot using an if, else statement. The following code only does the for loop if the length of a is equal to the length of b, otherwise, it throws an error.

Note that == checks if two quantities are equal. This is not the same as =, which assigns the value of one quantity to the other

If we name something with the exact same signature (name, and argument types), previous definitions get overriden.

In [129]:
function mydot(a::Vector,b::Vector)
ret=0
if length(a) == length(b)
for k=1:length(a)
ret=ret+a[k]*b[k]
end
else
error("arguments have different lengths")
end
ret
end

Out[129]:
mydot (generic function with 2 methods)
In [130]:
mydot([1,2,3,4],[5,6,7,8])

Out[130]:
70
In [131]:
mydot([1,2,3,4],[5,6,7])

LoadError: arguments have different lengths

in mydot at In[129]:8

# The fields in types point to locations in memory¶

In [57]:
r=Ref(1)
r.x

Out[57]:
1

Ref is just a composite type with a single field called x. We can make our own version of Ref called MyRef:

In [132]:
type MyRef
x
end


The function call MyRef(52) creates a new MyRef, with x initialized as 52:

In [133]:
myref=MyRef(52)

Out[133]:
MyRef(52)
In [134]:
myref.x

Out[134]:
52

we can create another variable n that is equal to myref.

In [135]:
n=myref

Out[135]:
MyRef(52)

Unlike bittypes, the fields of composite types point to locations in memory that store the values. In this example, myref.x lives somewhere in memory, let's say at address 1543. But setting n=myref has the property that all the fields of n also point to the same location in memory. This means n.x also points to address 1543.

So if we change the value of myref.x to 6, this changes the value living in address 1543 to 6, and so n.x is also automatically 6:

In [136]:
myref.x=6

Out[136]:
6
In [137]:
n.x

Out[137]:
6

This is very different from bittypes. Here, myrefx and nx are in two different locations in memory, let's say 1765 and 1987, and the = copies the value 52 from myrefx's address 1765 to nx's address 1987. Then calling myrefx=6 actually creates a new address in memory, let's say 2076, with the value of 6. But nx still corresponds to 1987, and is still 52.

In [138]:
myrefx=52
nx=myrefx
myrefx=6
nx

Out[138]:
52

In [139]:
myref=MyRef(52)
myref.x
n=myref

Out[139]:
MyRef(52)

If instead of calling myref.x=6 we call myref=MyRef(6), this creates a brand new MyRef, with the new myref.x pointing to a new address in memory (let's say 6543) initialized with the value 6. Whereas n.x still points to the same address in memory as the old myref.x, so is still 52:

In [67]:
myref=MyRef(6)

Out[67]:
MyRef(6)
In [68]:
n.x

Out[68]:
52

# Vectors work like composite types, not bittypes¶

Vectors behave like composite types, where they point to an address in memory, and = copies the address in memory:

In [141]:
v=[1,2,3,4]

w=v

Out[141]:
4-element Array{Int64,1}:
1
2
3
4

You can change values of a vector using brackets and =:

In [142]:
v[2]=52

Out[142]:
52

This has changed v:

In [72]:
v

Out[72]:
4-element Array{Int64,1}:
1
52
3
4

But it's also changed w, since w points to the same location in memory as v:

In [143]:
w

Out[143]:
4-element Array{Int64,1}:
1
52
3
4

If we assign v to a new vector, w still points to the old location in memory, so is unchanged.

Makes sure it is clear the difference between v=, which reassigns the variable v to a new value, and v[1]=, which leaves v the same, but modifies a value in memory.

In [74]:
v=[6,75]

Out[74]:
2-element Array{Int64,1}:
6
75
In [75]:
w

Out[75]:
4-element Array{Int64,1}:
1
52
3
4

If you actually want to copy the entries of a vector, without pointing to a new vector, use copy:

In [147]:
v=[6,75]
w=v
w2=copy(v)

Out[147]:
2-element Array{Int64,1}:
6
75
In [148]:
v[1]=2

Out[148]:
2
In [150]:
w

Out[150]:
2-element Array{Int64,1}:
2
75
In [149]:
w2

Out[149]:
2-element Array{Int64,1}:
6
75

# On to floating point numbers¶

Floating point numbers represent real numbers. They are also a bitstype, by default Float64 which uses 64 bits, but not we interpret the bits in a different way than integers.

In [153]:
x=1/2
typeof(x)

Out[153]:
Float64
In [154]:
y=1/3
typeof(y)

bits(y)

Out[154]:
"0011111111010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101"

We can create floats by adding .0 to the end. The following creates a Float64 to represent the integer 1:

In [155]:
x=1.0

bits(x)

Out[155]:
"0011111111110000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"