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Q&A How to use function composition for applying a function to first elements of a list?

Can anyone explain to me why my Haskell function gives rise to a type-definition error? Originally, I wrote the following function to subtract one from the first n elements in a list: dec_first :...

2 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by mr Tsjolder‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by mauke‭

#2: Nominated for promotion by user avatar Alexei‭ · 2023-07-26T15:19:00Z (over 1 year ago)
#1: Initial revision by user avatar mr Tsjolder‭ · 2023-07-13T15:17:26Z (over 1 year ago)
How to use function composition for applying a function to first elements of a list?
Can anyone explain to me why my Haskell function gives rise to a type-definition error?

Originally, I wrote the following function to subtract one from the first `n` elements in a list:
```haskell
dec_first :: Int -> [Int] -> [Int]
dec_first 0 l = l
dec_first n (x:xs) = (x-1):dec_first (n-1) xs
```
However, as a challenge, I wanted to write this function using available standard functions, using function compositions.
This is how I ended up writing the function (for the subtraction part)
```haskell
dec_first :: Int -> [Int] -> [Int]
dec_first = map (subtract 1) . take
```
but this function does not compile due to a type mismatch.

In my attempt to fix the error, I also tried the following variant:
```haskell
dec_first :: Int -> [Int] -> [Int]
dec_first n = map (subtract 1) . take n
```
This function actually does work as expected.
However, if I specify all parameters again, things breaks again:
```haskell
dec_first :: Int -> [Int] -> [Int]
dec_first n l = map (subtract 1) . take n l
```
Can anyone help me understand why this function only works with one variable, but not in the other settings?