$ package:hledger-web

($) is the function application operator. Applying ($) to a function f and an argument x gives the same result as applying f to x directly. The definition is akin to this:

($) :: (a -> b) -> a -> b
($) f x = f x

This is id specialized from a -> a to (a -> b) -> (a -> b) which by the associativity of (->) is the same as (a -> b) -> a -> b. On the face of it, this may appear pointless! But it's actually one of the most useful and important operators in Haskell. The order of operations is very different between ($) and normal function application. Normal function application has precedence 10 - higher than any operator - and associates to the left. So these two definitions are equivalent:

expr = min 5 1 + 5
expr = ((min 5) 1) + 5

($) has precedence 0 (the lowest) and associates to the right, so these are equivalent:

expr = min 5 $ 1 + 5
expr = (min 5) (1 + 5)

Examples

A common use cases of ($) is to avoid parentheses in complex expressions. For example, instead of using nested parentheses in the following Haskell function:

-- | Sum numbers in a string: strSum "100  5 -7" == 98
strSum :: String -> Int
strSum s = sum (mapMaybe readMaybe (words s))

we can deploy the function application operator:

-- | Sum numbers in a string: strSum "100  5 -7" == 98
strSum :: String -> Int
strSum s = sum $ mapMaybe readMaybe $ words s

($) is also used as a section (a partially applied operator), in order to indicate that we wish to apply some yet-unspecified function to a given value. For example, to apply the argument 5 to a list of functions:

applyFive :: [Int]
applyFive = map ($ 5) [(+1), (2^)]
>>> [6, 32]

Technical Remark (Representation Polymorphism)

($) is fully representation-polymorphic. This allows it to also be used with arguments of unlifted and even unboxed kinds, such as unboxed integers:

fastMod :: Int -> Int -> Int
fastMod (I# x) (I# m) = I# $ remInt# x m

Strict (call-by-value) application operator. It takes a function and an argument, evaluates the argument to weak head normal form (WHNF), then calls the function with that value.

An infix synonym for fmap. The name of this operator is an allusion to $. Note the similarities between their types:

($)  ::              (a -> b) ->   a ->   b
(<$>) :: Functor f => (a -> b) -> f a -> f b

Whereas $ is function application, <$> is function application lifted over a Functor.

Examples

Convert from a Maybe Int to a Maybe String using show:

>>> show <$> Nothing
Nothing

>>> show <$> Just 3
Just "3"

Convert from an Either Int Int to an Either Int String using show:

>>> show <$> Left 17
Left 17

>>> show <$> Right 17
Right "17"

Double each element of a list:

>>> (*2) <$> [1,2,3]
[2,4,6]

Apply even to the second element of a pair:

>>> even <$> (2,2)
(2,True)