14.4 First-Class Units

The define-unit form combines define with a unit form, similar to the way that (define (f x) ....) combines define followed by an identifier with an implicit lambda.

Expanding the shorthand, the definition of toy-store@ could almost be written as

(define toy-store@

(unit

(import toy-factory^)

(export toy-store^)

(define inventory null)

(define (store-color) 'green)

....))

A difference between this expansion and define-unit is that the imports and exports of toy-store@ cannot be inferred. That is, besides combining define and unit, define-unit attaches static information to the defined identifier so that its signature information is available statically to define-values/invoke-unit/infer and other forms.

Despite the drawback of losing static signature information, unit can be useful in combination with other forms that work with first-class values. For example, we could wrap a unit that creates a toy store in a lambda to supply the store’s color:

"toy-store-maker.rkt"

#lang racket

(require "toy-store-sig.rkt"

"toy-factory-sig.rkt")

(define toy-store@-maker

(lambda (the-color)

(unit

(import toy-factory^)

(export toy-store^)

(define inventory null)

(define (store-color) the-color)

; the rest is the same as before

(define (maybe-repaint t)

(if (eq? (toy-color t) (store-color))

t

(repaint t (store-color))))

(define (stock! n)

(set! inventory

(append inventory

(map maybe-repaint

(build-toys n)))))

(define (get-inventory) inventory))))

(provide toy-store@-maker)

To invoke a unit created by toy-store@-maker, we must use define-values/invoke-unit, instead of the /infer variant:

> (require "simple-factory-unit.rkt")

> (define-values/invoke-unit/infer simple-factory@)

Factory started.

> (require "toy-store-maker.rkt")

> (define-values/invoke-unit (toy-store@-maker 'purple)     (import toy-factory^)     (export toy-store^))

> (stock! 2)

> (get-inventory)

(list (toy 'purple) (toy 'purple))

In the define-values/invoke-unit form, the (import toy-factory^) line takes bindings from the current context that match the names in toy-factory^ (the ones that we created by invoking simple-factory@), and it supplies them as imports to toy-store@. The (export toy-store^) clause indicates that the unit produced by toy-store@-maker will export toy-store^, and the names from that signature are defined after invoking the unit.

To link a unit from toy-store@-maker, we can use the compound-unit form:

> (require "store-specific-factory-unit.rkt")

> (define toy-store+factory@     (compound-unit      (import)      (export TF TS)      (link [((TF : toy-factory^)) store-specific-factory@ TS]            [((TS : toy-store^)) toy-store@ TF])))

This compound-unit form packs a lot of information into one place. The left-hand-side TF and TS in the link clause are binding identifiers. The identifier TF is essentially bound to the elements of toy-factory^ as implemented by store-specific-factory@. The identifier TS is similarly bound to the elements of toy-store^ as implemented by toy-store@. Meanwhile, the elements bound to TS are supplied as imports for store-specific-factory@, since TS follows store-specific-factory@. The elements bound to TF are similarly supplied to toy-store@. Finally, (export TF TS) indicates that the elements bound to TF and TS are exported from the compound unit.

The above compound-unit form uses store-specific-factory@ as a first-class unit, even though its information could be inferred. Every unit can be used as a first-class unit, in addition to its use in inference contexts. Also, various forms let a programmer bridge the gap between inferred and first-class worlds. For example, define-unit-binding binds a new identifier to the unit produced by an arbitrary expression; it statically associates signature information to the identifier, and it dynamically checks the signatures against the first-class unit produced by the expression.