MOOlists

A MOOlist is by far the most excellent data type. It is a list of data of any data type, in any combination. It is both similar to and quite different from arrays of other languages: MOOlists can be manipulated more literally than arrays, and are also much easier to use.

Definition

For our examples, we will be using three lists. They are defined as follows.

animals = {"elk", "sheep", "deer"};
names = {"Steve", "Bob", "Jim"};
ints = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

Each item in a list is called an element.

Indexing

Lists would not be very useful if we could not work with each element individually. To do this, we use what's called the index or subscript.

Note: When describing operations, it is common practice to use the return symbol (=>) to show the results of the operation.

animals[1] => "elk"
animals[3] => "deer"
ints[4] => 4
names[2] => "Bob"

An element of a list works just like any other variable of that data type, and can be used in all the same operations.

We can also refer to parts of a list:

animals[1..2] => {"elk", "sheep"}
ints[3..5] => {3, 4, 5}

There is also the "$" operator. This is shorthand for the last element.

animals[$] => "deer"
ints[$] => 5

Note: You can see that MOOlists are 1-based; that is, the first element is numbered 1. In most other languages, arrays are 0-based, which means that the first element is numbered 0. You'll want to keep this in mind when you switch to another language.

The @ Operator

Think of the @ operator as "emptying" the contents of a list into the next available container. In other words:

{animals, names} => {{"elk", "sheep", "deer"}, {"Steve", "Bob", "Jim"}}
{animals, @names} => {{"elk", "sheep", "deer"}, "Steve", "Bob", "Jim"}
{@animals, @names} => {"elk", "sheep", "deer", "Steve", "Bob", "Jim"}

By using the curly brackets, we create a new list, then the @ operator empties the contents of "animals" and "names" into the new list. This is useful for combining two lists, or for adding a whole bunch of elements to an existing list, or just for adding one new element.

{@animals, "turtle"} => {"elk", "sheep", "deer", "turtle"}
{@ints, 6} => {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
{0, @ints} => {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
{0, @ints, 6} => {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

List Functions

In addition to the operators, there are several functions just for doing things to lists.

Listinsert(list, element): Adds one new element to the beginning of a list.

listinsert(animals, "turtle") => {"turtle", "elk", "sheep", "deer"}
listinsert(animals, "sheep") => {"sheep", "elk", "sheep", "deer"}

Listinsert(list, element, index): Inserts a new element at the specified index.

listinsert(animals, "turtle", 2) => {"elk", "turtle", "sheep", "deer"}
listinsert(animals, "turtle", 4) => {"elk", "sheep", "deer", "turtle"}

Listappend(list, element): Adds one new element to the end of a list.

listappend(animals, "turtle") => {"elk", "sheep", "deer", "turtle"}
listappend(animals, "sheep") => {"elk", "sheep", "deer", "sheep"}

Listappend(list, element, index): Adds one new element after the specified index.

listappend(animals, "turtle", 2) => {"elk", "sheep", "turtle", "deer"}
listappend(animals, "turtle", 0) => {"turtle", "elk", "sheep", "deer"}

Listdelete(list, index): Removes the element at the specified index.

listdelete(animals, 1) => {"sheep", "deer"}
listdelete(animals, 2) => {"elk", "deer"}

Setadd(list, element): Adds one new element to the end of a list, unless it's a duplicate.

setadd(animals, "turtle") => {"elk", "sheep", "deer", "turtle"}
setadd(animals, "sheep") => {"elk", "sheep", "deer"}

Setremove(list, element): Removes one element from a list, returning no error if it's not there.

setremove(animals, "sheep") => {"elk", "deer"}
setremove(animals, "turtle") => {"elk", "sheep", "deer"}

List Length

It's often important to get the length of a list.

length(animals) => 3
length(ints) => 5

Note that the length is the same as what the $ operator returns; i.e., the index of the last element of the list. However, the $ operator only works in the context of indexing, so you'll still have to use length() for other things.

Two-Dimensional Lists

You can also have a list of lists. Take a look at this code:

landanimals = {"sheep", "deer", "elk"};
skyanimals = {"eagle", "raven", "bat"};
seanimals = {"whale", "dolphin", "shark"};
animals = {landanimals, skyanimals, seaanimals};

Now "animals" is a list of three other lists. We can still index it normally:

animals[2] => {"eagle", "raven", "bat"}

And like I said before, every element of a list accepts all the same operations as any other variable of the same type. Thus, we can index the indexed element:

animals[2][1] => "eagle"
animals[2][3] => "bat"
animals[2][$] => "bat"
animals[$][$] => "shark"

These are called two-dimensional lists because, if you visualize it, it looks like a matrix. Of course, you can make lists of however many dimensions you want.

And There's More

There are code structures and algorithms dedicated just to using lists in various fashions. It's far too large a topic to cover in one lesson. Thus, lists will be revisited several times elsewhere in the guide.