genericLength

The genericLength function is an overloaded version of length. In particular, instead of returning an Int, it returns any type which is an instance of Num. It is, however, less efficient than length.

Examples

>>> genericLength [1, 2, 3] :: Int
3

>>> genericLength [1, 2, 3] :: Float
3.0

Users should take care to pick a return type that is wide enough to contain the full length of the list. If the width is insufficient, the overflow behaviour will depend on the (+) implementation in the selected Num instance. The following example overflows because the actual list length of 200 lies outside of the Int8 range of -128..127.

>>> genericLength [1..200] :: Int8
-56

Like length, except with a more general Num return value

The genericLength function is an overloaded version of length. In particular, instead of returning an Int, it returns any type which is an instance of Num. It is, however, less efficient than length.

>>> genericLength [1, 2, 3] :: Int
3

>>> genericLength [1, 2, 3] :: Float
3.0

Length of the list

The genericLength function is an overloaded version of length. In particular, instead of returning an Int, it returns any type which is an instance of Num. It is, however, less efficient than length.

>>> genericLength [1, 2, 3] :: Int
3

>>> genericLength [1, 2, 3] :: Float
3.0

Users should take care to pick a return type that is wide enough to contain the full length of the list. If the width is insufficient, the overflow behaviour will depend on the (+) implementation in the selected Num instance. The following example overflows because the actual list length of 200 lies outside of the Int8 range of -128..127.

>>> genericLength [1..200] :: Int8
-56

O(1). The genericLength function is an overloaded version of length. In particular, instead of returning an Int, it returns any type which is an instance of Num.

>>> genericLength $ one 42
1

>>> genericLength $ slist [1..3]
3

>>> genericLength $ infiniteSlist [1..]
9223372036854775807