lists(3)

NAME
lists - List processing functions.

DESCRIPTION

This module contains functions for list processing.

Unless otherwise stated, all functions assume that position numbering starts at 1. That is, the first element of a list is at position 1.

Two terms T1 and T2 compare equal if T1 == T2 evaluates to true. They match if T1 =:= T2 evaluates to true.

Whenever an ordering function F is expected as argument, it is assumed that the following properties hold of F for all x, y, and z:

    • If x F y and y F x, then x = y (F is antisymmetric).

    • If x F y and y F z, then x F z (F is transitive).

    • F y or y F x (F is total).

An example of a typical ordering function is less than or equal to: =</2.

FUNCTIONS

all(Pred, List) -> boolean() when Pred :: fun((Elem :: T) -> boolean()), List :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns true if Pred(Elem) returns true for all elements Elem in List; otherwise, returns false.

  Examples

    1> IsEven = fun(N) -> N rem 2 =:= 0 end.
    2> lists:all(IsEven, [2,4,5]).
    false
    3> lists:all(IsEven, [2,4,6]).
    true
any(Pred, List) -> boolean() when Pred :: fun((Elem :: T) -> boolean()), List :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns true if Pred(Elem) returns true for at least one element Elem in List; otherwise, returns false.

  Examples

    1> IsEven = fun(N) -> N rem 2 =:= 0 end.
    2> lists:any(IsEven, [3,5,7]).
    false
    3> lists:any(IsEven, [2,3,5,7]).
    true
append(ListOfLists) -> List1 when ListOfLists :: [List], List :: [T], List1 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list in which all sublists of ListOfLists have been concatenated.

  Examples

    1> lists:append([[1, 2, 3], [a, b], [4, 5, 6]]).
    [1,2,3,a,b,4,5,6]
append(List1, List2) -> List3 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], List3 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a new list, List3, consisting of the elements of List1, followed by the elements of List2.

  Examples

    1> lists:append("abc", "def").
    "abcdef"

lists:append(A, B) is equivalent to A ++ B.
concat(Things) -> string() when Things :: [Thing], Thing :: atom() | integer() | float() | string().

    Concatenates the text representation of the elements of Things.

    The elements of Things can be atoms, integers, floats, or strings.

  Examples

    1> lists:concat([doc, '/', file, '.', 3]).
    "doc/file.3"
delete(Elem, List1) -> List2 when Elem :: T, List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a copy of List1 where the first element matching Elem is removed, if there is such an element.

  Examples

    1> lists:delete(b, [a,b,c]).
    [a,c]
    2> lists:delete(x, [a,b,c]).
    [a,b,c]
droplast(List) -> InitList when List :: [T, ...], InitList :: [T], T :: term().

    Drops the last element of a List.

    The list must be non-empty; otherwise, the function raises a function_clause exception.

  Examples

    1> lists:droplast([1]).
    []
    2> lists:droplast([1,2,3]).
    [1,2]
    3> lists:droplast([]).
    ** exception error: no function clause matching lists:droplast([])
dropwhile(Pred, List1) -> List2 when Pred :: fun((Elem :: T) -> boolean()), List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Drops elements Elem from List1 while Pred(Elem) returns true, and then returns the remaining list.

  Examples

    1> lists:dropwhile(fun is_atom/1, [a,b,c,1,2,3,x,y,z]).
    [1,2,3,x,y,z]
    2> lists:dropwhile(fun is_integer/1, [a,b,c,1,2,3,x,y,z]).
    [a,b,c,1,2,3,x,y,z]
duplicate(N, Elem) -> List when N :: non_neg_integer(), Elem :: T, List :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list containing N copies of term Elem.

  Examples

    1> lists:duplicate(5, xx).
    [xx,xx,xx,xx,xx]
enumerate(Index, Step, List1) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [{Index, T}], Index :: integer(), Step :: integer(), T :: term().

    Returns List1 with each element H replaced by a tuple of form {I, H}, where I is the position of H in List1.

    The enumeration starts with Index and increases by Step in each step.

    That is, enumerate/3 behaves as if it were defined as follows:

        enumerate(I, S, List) ->
          {List1, _ } = lists:mapfoldl(fun(T, Acc) -> {{Acc, T}, Acc+S} end, I, List),
          List1.

    The default values for Index and Step are both 1.

  Examples

    1> lists:enumerate([a,b,c]).
    [{1,a},{2,b},{3,c}]
    2> lists:enumerate(10, [a,b,c]).
    [{10,a},{11,b},{12,c}]
    3> lists:enumerate(0, -2, [a,b,c]).
    [{0,a},{-2,b},{-4,c}]
filter(Pred, List1) -> List2 when Pred :: fun((Elem :: T) -> boolean()), List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list of elements Elem in List1 for which Pred(Elem) returns true.

  Examples

    1> IsEven = fun(N) -> N rem 2 =:= 0 end.
    2> lists:filter(IsEven, [1,2,3,4,5]).
    [2,4]
filtermap(Fun, List1) -> List2 when Fun :: fun((Elem) -> boolean() | {true, Value}), List1 :: [Elem], List2 :: [Elem | Value], Elem :: term(), Value :: term().

    Calls Fun(Elem) on successive elements Elem of List1 to update or remove elements from List1.

    Fun/1 must return either a Boolean or a tuple {true, Value}. The function returns the list of elements for which Fun returns a new value, with true being equivalent to {true, Elem}.

    That is, filtermap behaves as if it were defined as follows:

        filtermap(Fun, List1) ->
            lists:flatmap(fun(Elem) ->
                                  case Fun(Elem) of
                                      false -> [];
                                      true -> [Elem];
                                      {true,Value} -> [Value]
                                  end
                          end, List1).

  Examples

    1> lists:filtermap(fun(X) ->
                               case X rem 2 of
                                   0 -> {true, X div 2};
                                   1 -> false
                               end
                       end, [1,2,3,4,5]).
    [1,2]
flatlength(DeepList) -> non_neg_integer() when DeepList :: [term() | DeepList].

    Equivalent to length(flatten(DeepList)), but more efficient.

  Examples

    1> lists:flatlength([a,[b,c,[d,e]],f,[[g,h,i]]]).
    9
    2> lists:flatlength([[[]]]).
    0
flatmap(Fun, List1) -> List2 when Fun :: fun((A) -> [B]), List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], A :: term(), B :: term().

    Takes a function from As to lists of Bs, and a list of As (List1), producing a list of Bs by applying the function to each element in List1 and appending the resulting lists.

    That is, flatmap behaves as if it were defined as follows:

        flatmap(Fun, List1) ->
            lists:append(lists:map(Fun, List1)).

  Examples

    1> lists:flatmap(fun(X)-> [X,X] end, [a,b,c]).
    [a,a,b,b,c,c]
    2> F = fun(N) when is_integer(N) -> [10 * N];
              (_) -> []
           end, ok.
    3> lists:flatmap(F, [1,2,a,b,c,3]).
    [10,20,30]
flatten(DeepList) -> List when DeepList :: [term() | DeepList], List :: [term()].

    Returns a flattened version of DeepList.

  Examples

    1> lists:flatten([a,[b,c,[d,e]],f]).
    [a,b,c,d,e,f]
flatten(DeepList, Tail) -> List when DeepList :: [term() | DeepList], Tail :: [term()], List :: [term()].

    Returns a flattened version of DeepList with tail Tail appended.

  Examples

    1> lists:flatten([a,[b,c,[d,e]],f], [g,h,i]).
    [a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i]
foldl(Fun, Acc0, List) -> Acc1 when Fun :: fun((Elem :: T, AccIn) -> AccOut), Acc0 :: term(), Acc1 :: term(), AccIn :: term(), AccOut :: term(), List :: [T], T :: term().

    Calls Fun(Elem, AccIn) on successive elements A of List, starting with AccIn bound to Acc0.

    Fun/2 must return a new accumulator, which is passed to the next call. The function returns the final value of the accumulator. Acc0 is returned if the list is empty.

  Examples

    1> lists:foldl(fun(X, Sum) -> X + Sum end, 0, [1,2,3,4,5]).
    15
    2> lists:foldl(fun(X, Prod) -> X * Prod end, 1, [1,2,3,4,5]).
    120
foldr(Fun, Acc0, List) -> Acc1 when Fun :: fun((Elem :: T, AccIn) -> AccOut), Acc0 :: term(), Acc1 :: term(), AccIn :: term(), AccOut :: term(), List :: [T], T :: term().

    Like foldl/3, but the list is traversed from right to left.

  Examples

    1> P = fun(A, AccIn) -> [A|AccIn] end.
    2> lists:foldl(P, [], [1,2,3]).
    [3,2,1]
    3> lists:foldr(P, [], [1,2,3]).
    [1,2,3]

foldl/3 is tail-recursive and is usually preferred to foldr/3.
foreach(Fun, List) -> ok when Fun :: fun((Elem :: T) -> term()), List :: [T], T :: term().

    Calls Fun(Elem) for each element Elem in List, ignoring the return value.

    This function is used for its side effects and the evaluation order is defined to be the same as the order of the elements in the list.
join(Sep, List1) -> List2 when Sep :: T, List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Inserts Sep between each element in List1.

    Has no effect on an empty list or a singleton list.

  Examples

    1> lists:join(x, [a,b,c]).
    [a,x,b,x,c]
    2> lists:join(x, [a]).
    [a]
    3> lists:join(x, []).
    []
keydelete(Key, N, TupleList1) -> TupleList2 when Key :: term(), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [Tuple], TupleList2 :: [Tuple], Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns a copy of TupleList1, where the first occurrence of a tuple whose Nth element compares equal to Key is removed, if there is such a tuple.

  Examples

    1> lists:keydelete(c, 1, [{b,1}, {c,55}, {d,75}]).
    [{b,1},{d,75}]
    2> lists:keydelete(unknown, 1, [{b,1}, {c,55}, {d,75}]).
    [{b,1},{c,55},{d,75}]
keyfind(Key, N, TupleList) -> Tuple | false when Key :: term(), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList :: [Tuple], Tuple :: tuple().

    Searches the list of tuples TupleList for a tuple whose Nth element compares equal to Key.

    Returns Tuple if such a tuple is found; otherwise, returns false.

  Examples

    1> lists:keyfind(b, 1, [{a,10}, {b,20}, {c,30}]).
    {b,20}
    2> lists:keyfind(unknown, 1, [{a,10}, {b,20}, {c,30}]).
    false
keymap(Fun, N, TupleList1) -> TupleList2 when Fun :: fun((Term1 :: term()) -> Term2 :: term()), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [Tuple], TupleList2 :: [Tuple], Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns a list of tuples where, for each tuple in TupleList1, the Nth element Term1 of the tuple has been replaced with the result of calling Fun(Term1).

  Examples

    1> Fun = fun(Atom) -> atom_to_list(Atom) end.
    2> lists:keymap(Fun, 2, [{name,jane,22},{name,lizzie,20},{name,lydia,15}]).
    [{name,"jane",22},{name,"lizzie",20},{name,"lydia",15}]
keymember(Key, N, TupleList) -> boolean() when Key :: term(), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList :: [Tuple], Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns true if TupleList contains a tuple whose Nth element compares equal to Key; otherwise, returns false.

  Examples

    1> lists:keymember(b, 1, [{a,10}, {b,20}, {c,30}]).
    true
    2> lists:keymember(unknown, 1, [{a,10}, {b,20}, {c,30}]).
    false
keymerge(N, TupleList1, TupleList2) -> TupleList3 when N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [T1], TupleList2 :: [T2], TupleList3 :: [T1 | T2], T1 :: Tuple, T2 :: Tuple, Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns the sorted list formed by merging TupleList1 and TupleList2.

    The merge is performed on the Nth element of each tuple. Both TupleList1 and TupleList2 must be key-sorted before evaluating this function. When the key elements of the two tuples compare equal, the tuple from TupleList1 is picked before the tuple from TupleList2.

  Examples

    1> lists:keymerge(2, [{b, 50}], [{c, 20}, {a, 50}]).
    [{c,20},{b,50},{a,50}]
keyreplace(Key, N, TupleList1, NewTuple) -> TupleList2 when Key :: term(), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [Tuple], TupleList2 :: [Tuple], NewTuple :: Tuple, Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns a copy of TupleList1 where the first occurrence of a tuple T whose Nth element compares equal to Key is replaced with NewTuple, if there is such a tuple T.

  Examples

    1> lists:keyreplace(c, 1, [{b,1}, {c,55}, {d,75}], {new,tuple}).
    [{b,1},{new,tuple},{d,75}]
    2> lists:keyreplace(unknown, 1, [{b,1}, {c,55}, {d,75}], {new,tuple}).
    [{b,1},{c,55},{d,75}]
keysearch(Key, N, TupleList) -> {value, Tuple} | false when Key :: term(), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList :: [Tuple], Tuple :: tuple().

    Searches the list of tuples TupleList for a tuple whose Nth element compares equal to Key.

    Returns {value, Tuple} if such a tuple is found; otherwise, returns false.

    NOTE: This function is retained for backward compatibility. Function keyfind/3 is easier to use and more efficient.
keysort(N, TupleList1) -> TupleList2 when N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [Tuple], TupleList2 :: [Tuple], Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns a list of the elements in TupleList1, sorted by the Nth element of each tuple.

    The sort is stable.

  Examples

    1> lists:keysort(2, [{a, 99}, {b, 17}, {c, 50}, {d, 50}]).
    [{b,17},{c,50},{d,50},{a,99}]
keystore(Key, N, TupleList1, NewTuple) -> TupleList2 when Key :: term(), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [Tuple], TupleList2 :: [Tuple, ...], NewTuple :: Tuple, Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns a copy of TupleList1 with the first tuple whose Nth element compares equal to Key replaced by NewTuple, or with [NewTuple] appended if no such tuple exists.

  Examples

    1> lists:keystore(b, 1, [{a, 10}, {b, 23}, {c, 99}], {bb, 1}).
    [{a, 10}, {bb, 1}, {c, 99}]
    2> lists:keystore(z, 1, [{a, 10}, {b, 23}, {c, 99}], {z, 2}).
    [{a, 10}, {b, 23}, {c, 99}, {z, 2}]
keytake(Key, N, TupleList1) -> {value, Tuple, TupleList2} | false when Key :: term(), N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [tuple()], TupleList2 :: [tuple()], Tuple :: tuple().

    Searches the list of tuples TupleList1 for a tuple whose Nth element compares equal to Key, returning {value, Tuple, TupleList2} if found, where TupleList2 is a copy of TupleList1 with the first occurrence of Tuple removed.

    Otherwise, returns false if no such tuple is found.

  Examples

    1> lists:keytake(b, 1, [{a, 10}, {b, 23}, {c, 99}]).
    {value,{b,23},[{a, 10},{c, 99}]}
    2> lists:keytake(z, 1, [{a, 10}, {b, 23}, {c, 99}]).
    false
last(List) -> Last when List :: [T, ...], Last :: T, T :: term().

    Returns the last element in List.

    The list must be non-empty; otherwise, the function raises a function_clause exception.

  Examples

    1> lists:last([1]).
    1
    2> lists:last([1,2,3]).
    3
    3> lists:last([]).
    ** exception error: no function clause matching lists:last([])
map(Fun, List1) -> List2 when Fun :: fun((A) -> B), List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], A :: term(), B :: term().

    Takes a function from As to Bs and a list of As, producing a list of Bs by applying the function to each element in the list.

  Examples

    1> lists:map(fun(N) -> N + 1 end, [1,2,3]).
    [2,3,4]
mapfoldl(Fun, Acc0, List1) -> {List2, Acc1} when Fun :: fun((A, AccIn) -> {B, AccOut}), Acc0 :: term(), Acc1 :: term(), AccIn :: term(), AccOut :: term(), List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], A :: term(), B :: term().

    Combines the operations of map/2 and foldl/3 into one pass.

  Examples

Summing the elements in a list and double them at the same time:

    1> lists:mapfoldl(fun(X, Sum) -> {2*X, X+Sum} end, 0, [1,2,3,4,5]).
    {[2,4,6,8,10],15}
mapfoldr(Fun, Acc0, List1) -> {List2, Acc1} when Fun :: fun((A, AccIn) -> {B, AccOut}), Acc0 :: term(), Acc1 :: term(), AccIn :: term(), AccOut :: term(), List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], A :: term(), B :: term().

    Combines the operations of map/2 and foldr/3 into one pass.

    NOTE: Unless the order in which the elements are accumulated is important, prefer mapfoldl/3 as it is slighly more efficient.

  Examples

Doubling the elements in list and producing a list of squares at the same time:

    1> lists:mapfoldr(fun(X, Acc) -> {2*X, [X*X|Acc]} end, [], [1,2,3,4,5]).
    {[2,4,6,8,10],[1,4,9,16,25]}
max(List) -> Max when List :: [T, ...], Max :: T, T :: term().

    Returns the first element of List that compares greater than or equal to all other elements of List.

  Examples

    1> lists:max([17,19,7,55]).
    55
    2> lists:max([]).
    ** exception error: no function clause matching lists:max([])
member(Elem, List) -> boolean() when Elem :: T, List :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns true if Elem matches some element of List; otherwise, returns false.

  Examples

    1> lists:member(2, [1,2,3]).
    true
    2> lists:member(nope, [1,2,3]).
    false
merge(ListOfLists) -> List1 when ListOfLists :: [List], List :: [T], List1 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns the sorted list formed by merging all sublists of ListOfLists.

    All sublists must be sorted before evaluating this function.

    When two elements compare equal, the element from the sublist with the lowest position in ListOfLists is picked before the other element.

  Examples

    1> lists:merge([[b,l,l], [g,k,q]]).
    [b,g,k,l,l,q]
merge(List1, List2) -> List3 when List1 :: [X], List2 :: [Y], List3 :: [X | Y], X :: term(), Y :: term().

    Returns the sorted list formed by merging List1 and List2.

    Both List1 and List2 must be sorted before evaluating this function.

    When two elements compare equal, the element from List1 is picked before the element from List2.

  Examples

    1> lists:merge([a,o], [b,x]).
    [a,b,o,x]
merge(Fun, List1, List2) -> List3 when Fun :: fun((A, B) -> boolean()), List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], List3 :: [A | B], A :: term(), B :: term().

    Returns a sorted list formed by merging List1 and List2 based on Fun.

    Both List1 andList2 must be sorted according to the ordering function Fun before evaluating this function.

    Fun(A, B) is to return true if A compares less than or equal to B in the ordering, otherwise false. When two elements compare equal, the element from List1 is picked before the element from List2.

  Examples

    1> F = fun(A, B) -> tuple_size(A) =< tuple_size(B) end.
    2> lists:merge(F, [{x, y}, {a, b, c}], [{q, w}]).
    [{x,y},{q,w},{a,b,c}]
merge3(List1, List2, List3) -> List4 when List1 :: [X], List2 :: [Y], List3 :: [Z], List4 :: [X | Y | Z], X :: term(), Y :: term(), Z :: term().

    Returns the sorted list formed by merging List1, List2, and List3.

    All of List1, List2, and List3 must be sorted before evaluating this function.

    When two elements compare equal, the element from List1, if there is such an element, is picked before the other element, otherwise the element from List2 is picked before the element from List3.

  Examples

    1> lists:merge3([a,o], [g,q], [j]).
    [a,g,j,o,q]
min(List) -> Min when List :: [T, ...], Min :: T, T :: term().

    Returns the first element of List that compares less than or equal to all other elements of List.

  Examples

    1> lists:min([17,19,7,55]).
    7
    2> lists:min([]).
    ** exception error: no function clause matching lists:min([])
nth(N, List) -> Elem when N :: pos_integer(), List :: [T, ...], Elem :: T, T :: term().

    Returns the Nth element of List.

  Examples

    1> lists:nth(3, [a, b, c, d, e]).
    c
nthtail(N, List) -> Tail when N :: non_neg_integer(), List :: [T, ...], Tail :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns the Nth tail of List, meaning the sublist of List starting at N+1 and continuing to the end of the list.

  Examples

    1> lists:nthtail(3, [a, b, c, d, e]).
    [d,e]
    2> tl(tl(tl([a, b, c, d, e]))).
    [d,e]
    3> lists:nthtail(0, [a, b, c, d, e]).
    [a,b,c,d,e]
    4> lists:nthtail(5, [a, b, c, d, e]).
    []
partition(Pred, List) -> {Satisfying, NotSatisfying} when Pred :: fun((Elem :: T) -> boolean()), List :: [T], Satisfying :: [T], NotSatisfying :: [T], T :: term().

    Partitions List into two lists: the first containing elements for which Pred(Elem) returns true, and the second containing elements for which Pred(Elem) returns false.

  Examples

    1> lists:partition(fun(A) -> A rem 2 =:= 1 end, [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]).
    {[1,3,5,7],[2,4,6]}
    2> lists:partition(fun(A) -> is_atom(A) end, [a,b,1,c,d,2,3,4,e]).
    {[a,b,c,d,e],[1,2,3,4]}

For a different way to partition a list, see splitwith/2.
prefix(List1, List2) -> boolean() when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns true if List1 is a prefix of List2; otherwise, returns false.

    A prefix of a list is the first part of the list, starting from the beginning and stopping at any point.

  Examples

    1> lists:prefix("abc", "abcdef").
    true
    2> lists:prefix("def", "abcdef").
    false
    3> lists:prefix([], "any list").
    true
    4> lists:prefix("abc", "abc").
    true
reverse(List1) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list containing the elements in List1 in reverse order.

  Examples

    1> lists:reverse([1,2,3]).
    [3,2,1]
reverse(List1, Tail) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], Tail :: term(), List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list containing the elements of List1 in reverse order, with tail Tail appended.

  Examples

    1> lists:reverse([1, 2, 3, 4], [a, b, c]).
    [4,3,2,1,a,b,c]
search(Pred, List) -> {value, Value} | false when Pred :: fun((T) -> boolean()), List :: [T], Value :: T.

    If there is a Value in List such that Pred(Value) returns true, returns {value, Value} for the first such Value; otherwise, returns false.

  Examples

    1> lists:search(fun is_atom/1, [1,2,3,a,b,c]).
    {value,a}
    2> lists:search(fun(#{a := V}) -> V =:= 42 end,
         [#{a => 1}, #{a => 42}, #{a => 100}]).
    {value,#{a => 42}}
seq(From, To, Incr) -> Seq when From :: integer(), To :: integer(), Incr :: integer(), Seq :: [integer()].

    Returns a sequence of integers that starts with From and contains the successive results of adding Incr to the previous element, until To is reached or passed (in the latter case, To is not an element of the sequence).

    Incr defaults to 1.

    Failures:

        • If To < From - Incr and Incr > 0.

        • If To > From - Incr and Incr < 0.

        • If Incr =:= 0 and From =/= To.

    The following equalities hold for all sequences:

        length(lists:seq(From, To)) =:= To - From + 1
        length(lists:seq(From, To, Incr)) =:= (To - From + Incr) div Incr

  Examples

    1> lists:seq(1, 10).
    [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
    2> lists:seq(1, 20, 3).
    [1,4,7,10,13,16,19]
    3> lists:seq(1, 0, 1).
    []
    4> lists:seq(10, 6, 4).
    []
    5> lists:seq(1, 1, 0).
    [1]
sort(List1) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list containing the sorted elements of List1.

    The sort is stable.

  Examples

    1> lists:sort([4,1,3,2]).
    [1,2,3,4]
    2> lists:sort([a,4,3,b,9]).
    [3,4,9,a,b]

Since the sort is stable, the relative order of elements that compare equal is not changed:

    1> lists:sort([1.0,1]).
    [1.0,1]
    2> lists:sort([1,1.0]).
    [1,1.0]
sort(Fun, List1) -> List2 when Fun :: fun((A :: T, B :: T) -> boolean()), List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list of the elements in List1, sorted according to the ordering function Fun, where Fun(A, B) returns true if A compares less than or equal to B in the ordering; otherwise, it returns false.

  Examples

    1> F = fun(A, B) -> tuple_size(A) =< tuple_size(B) end.
    2> lists:sort(F, [{a, b, c}, {x, y}, {q, w}]).
    [{x,y},{q,w},{a,b,c}]
split(N, List1) -> {List2, List3} when N :: non_neg_integer(), List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], List3 :: [T], T :: term().

    Splits List1 into List2, containing the first N elements, and List3, containing the rest.

  Examples

    1> lists:split(3, [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]).
    {[1,2,3],[4,5,6,7]}
splitwith(Pred, List) -> {List1, List2} when Pred :: fun((T) -> boolean()), List :: [T], List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Partitions List into two lists according to Pred.

    splitwith/2 behaves as if it were defined as follows:

        splitwith(Pred, List) ->
            {takewhile(Pred, List), dropwhile(Pred, List)}.

  Examples

    1> lists:splitwith(fun(A) -> A rem 2 =:= 1 end, [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]).
    {[1],[2,3,4,5,6,7]}
    2> lists:splitwith(fun(A) -> is_atom(A) end, [a,b,1,c,d,2,3,4,e]).
    {[a,b],[1,c,d,2,3,4,e]}

For a different way to partition a list, see partition/2.
sublist(List1, Len) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], Len :: non_neg_integer(), T :: term().

    Returns the sublist of List1 starting at position 1 and with no more than Len elements.

    It is not an error for Len to exceed the length of the list, in which case the whole list is returned.

  Examples

    1> lists:sublist([1,2,3,4,5], 2)
    [1,2]
    2> lists:sublist([1,2,3,4,5], 99)
    [1,2,3,4,5]
sublist(List1, Start, Len) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], Start :: pos_integer(), Len :: non_neg_integer(), T :: term().

    Returns the sublist of List1 starting at Start and with no more than Len elements.

    It is not an error for Start+Len to exceed the length of the list.

  Examples

    1> lists:sublist([1,2,3,4], 2, 2).
    [2,3]
    2> lists:sublist([1,2,3,4], 2, 5).
    [2,3,4]
    3> lists:sublist([1,2,3,4], 5, 2).
    []
subtract(List1, List2) -> List3 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], List3 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a new list, List3, which is a copy of List1 with the following modification: for each element in List2, its first occurrence in List1 is removed.

  Examples

    1> lists:subtract("123212", "212").
    "312"

lists:subtract(A, B) is equivalent to A -- B.
suffix(List1, List2) -> boolean() when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns true if List1 is a suffix of List2; otherwise, returns false.

    A suffix of a list is the last part of the list, starting from any position and going all the way to the end.

  Examples

    1> lists:suffix("abc", "abcdef").
    false
    2> lists:suffix("def", "abcdef").
    true
    3> lists:suffix([], "any list").
    true
    4> lists:suffix("abc", "abc").
    true
sum(List) -> number() when List :: [number()].

    Returns the sum of the elements in List.

  Examples

    1> lists:sum([]).
    0
    2> lists:sum([1,2,3]).
    6
takewhile(Pred, List1) -> List2 when Pred :: fun((Elem :: T) -> boolean()), List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Takes elements Elem from List1 while Pred(Elem) returns true, returning the longest prefix in which all elements satisfy the predicate.

  Examples

    1> lists:takewhile(fun is_atom/1, [a,b,c,1,2,3,x,y,z]).
    [a,b,c]
    2> lists:takewhile(fun is_integer/1, [a,b,c,1,2,3,x,y,z]).
    []
ukeymerge(N, TupleList1, TupleList2) -> TupleList3 when N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [T1], TupleList2 :: [T2], TupleList3 :: [T1 | T2], T1 :: Tuple, T2 :: Tuple, Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns the sorted list formed by merging TupleList1 and TupleList2 based on the Nth element of each tuple.

    Both TupleList1 and TupleList2 must be key-sorted without duplicates before evaluating this function.

    When the Nth elements of two tuples compare equal, the tuple from TupleList1 is picked and the one from TupleList2 is removed.

  Examples

    1> lists:ukeymerge(1, [{a, 33}, {c, 15}], [{a, 59}, {d, 39}]).
    [{a,33},{c,15},{d,39}]
ukeysort(N, TupleList1) -> TupleList2 when N :: pos_integer(), TupleList1 :: [Tuple], TupleList2 :: [Tuple], Tuple :: tuple().

    Returns a sorted list of the elements in TupleList1, keeping only the first occurrence of tuples whose Nth elements compare equal.

    Sorting is performed on the Nth element of the tuples.

  Examples

    1> lists:ukeysort(2, [{a, 27}, {d, 23}, {e, 23}]).
    [{d,23}, {a, 27}]
umerge(ListOfLists) -> List1 when ListOfLists :: [List], List :: [T], List1 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a sorted list formed by merging all sublists in ListOfLists, while removing duplicates.

    All sublists must be sorted and contain no duplicates before evaluating this function.

    When two elements compare equal, the element from the sublist with the lowest position in ListOfLists is picked and the other is removed.

  Examples

    1> lists:umerge([[a,b], [a,d,e]]).
    [a,b,d,e]
umerge(List1, List2) -> List3 when List1 :: [X], List2 :: [Y], List3 :: [X | Y], X :: term(), Y :: term().

    Returns the sorted list formed by merging List1 and List2, while removing duplicates.

    Both List1 and List2 must be sorted and contain no duplicates before evaluating this function.

    When two elements compare equal, the element from List1 is picked and the one from List2 is removed.

  Examples

    1> lists:umerge([a,b], [a,d,e]).
    [a,b,d,e]
umerge(Fun, List1, List2) -> List3 when Fun :: fun((A, B) -> boolean()), List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], List3 :: [A | B], A :: term(), B :: term().

    Returns a sorted list by merging List1 and List2 using ordering function Fun, assuming both lists are pre-sorted according to Fun and contain no duplicates.

    Fun(A, B) is to return true if A compares less than or equal to B in the ordering; otherwise, it should return false. When two elements compare equal, the element from List1 is picked and the one from List2 is removed.

  Examples

    1> F = fun(A, B) -> tuple_size(A) =< tuple_size(B) end.
    2> lists:umerge(F, [{x, y}, {a, b, c}], [{q, w}, {x, y, z, w}]).
    [{x,y},{a,b,c},{x,y,z,w}]
umerge3(List1, List2, List3) -> List4 when List1 :: [X], List2 :: [Y], List3 :: [Z], List4 :: [X | Y | Z], X :: term(), Y :: term(), Z :: term().

    Returns the sorted list formed by merging List1, List2, and List3, while removing duplicates.

    All of List1, List2, and List3 must be sorted and contain no duplicates before evaluating this function.

    When two elements compare equal, the element from List1 is picked if there is such an element, otherwise the element from List2 is picked, and the other is removed.

  Examples

    1> lists:umerge3([a,b], [a,d,e], [b,f]).
    [a,b,d,e,f]
uniq(List1) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list containing the elements of List1 with duplicated elements removed (preserving the order of the elements).

    The first occurrence of each element is kept.

  Examples

    1> lists:uniq([3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3]).
    [3,1,2]
    2> lists:uniq([a, a, 1, b, 2, a, 3]).
    [a, 1, b, 2, 3]
uniq(Fun, List1) -> List2 when Fun :: fun((T) -> any()), List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list containing the elements of List1 without the elements for which Fun returned duplicate values (preserving the order of the elements).

    The first occurrence of each element is kept.

  Examples

    1> lists:uniq(fun({X, _}) -> X end, [{b, 2}, {a, 1}, {c, 3}, {a, 2}]).
    [{b, 2}, {a, 1}, {c, 3}]
unzip(List1) -> {List2, List3} when List1 :: [{A, B}], List2 :: [A], List3 :: [B], A :: term(), B :: term().

    "Unzips" a list of two-tuples into two lists, where the first list contains the first element of each tuple, and the second list contains the second element of each tuple.

  Examples

    1> lists:unzip([{1, a}, {2, b}]).
    {[1,2],[a,b]}
unzip3(List1) -> {List2, List3, List4} when List1 :: [{A, B, C}], List2 :: [A], List3 :: [B], List4 :: [C], A :: term(), B :: term(), C :: term().

    "Unzips" a list of three-tuples into three lists, where the first list contains the first element of each tuple, the second list contains the second element of each tuple, and the third list contains the third element of each tuple.

  Examples

    1> lists:unzip3([{a, 1, 2}, {b, 777, 999}]).
    {[a,b],[1,777],[2,999]}
usort(List1) -> List2 when List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a sorted list of the elements of List1, keeping only the first occurrence of elements that compare equal.

  Examples

    1> lists:usort([a,x,y,b,c,x,a]).
    [a,b,c,x,y]
    2> lists:usort([3,2,a,3,2,a,1,3,b,2,2,1]).
    [1,2,3,a,b]
    3> lists:usort([1.0,1]).
    [1.0]
    4> lists:usort([1,1.0]).
    [1]
usort(Fun, List1) -> List2 when Fun :: fun((T, T) -> boolean()), List1 :: [T], List2 :: [T], T :: term().

    Returns a list containing the sorted elements of List1 where all except the first element of the elements comparing equal according to the ordering function Fun have been removed.

    Fun(A, B) is to return true if A compares less than or equal to B in the ordering, otherwise false.

  Examples

    1> F = fun(A, B) -> tuple_size(A) =< tuple_size(B) end.
    2> lists:usort(F, [{a, b, c}, {x, y}, {q, w}]).
    [{x,y},{a,b,c}]
zip(List1, List2, How) -> List3 when List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], List3 :: [{A | DefaultA, B | DefaultB}], A :: term(), B :: term(), How :: fail | trim | {pad, {DefaultA, DefaultB}}, DefaultA :: term(), DefaultB :: term().

    "Zips" two lists into one list of two-tuples, where the first element of each tuple is taken from the first list and the second element is taken from the corresponding element in the second list.

    The How parameter specifies the behavior if the given lists are of different lengths. fail
        The call will fail if the given lists are not of equal length. This is the default.
    trim
        Surplus elements from the longer list will be ignored.

  Examples

    1> lists:zip([a, b], [1, 2, 3], trim).
    [{a,1},{b,2}]
    2> lists:zip([a, b, c], [1, 2], trim).
    [{a,1},{b,2}]
{pad, Defaults}
    The shorter list will be padded to the length of the longer list, using the respective elements from the given Defaults tuple.

  Examples

    1> lists:zip([a, b], [1, 2, 3], {pad, {x, 0}}).
    [{a,1},{b,2},{x,3}]
    2> lists:zip([a, b, c], [1, 2], {pad, {x, 0}}).
    [{a,1},{b,2},{c,0}]
zip3(List1, List2, List3, How) -> List4 when List1 :: [A], List2 :: [B], List3 :: [C], List4 :: [{A | DefaultA, B | DefaultB, C | DefaultC}], A :: term(), B :: term(), C :: term(), How :: fail | trim | {pad, {DefaultA, DefaultB, DefaultC}}, DefaultA :: term(), DefaultB :: term(), DefaultC :: term().

    "Zips" three lists into one list of three-tuples, where the first element of each tuple is taken from the first list, the second element is taken from the corresponding element in the second list, and the third element is taken from the corresponding element in the third list.

    For a description of the How parameter, see zip/3.

  Examples

    1> lists:zip3([a], [1, 2, 3], [17, 19], trim).
    [{a,1,17}]
    2> lists:zip3([a], [1, 2, 3], [17, 19], {pad, {z, 0, 0}}).
    [{a,1,17}, {z,2,19}, {z,3,0}]
zipwith(Combine, List1, List2, How) -> List3 when Combine :: fun((X | DefaultX, Y | DefaultY) -> T), List1 :: [X], List2 :: [Y], List3 :: [T], X :: term(), Y :: term(), How :: fail | trim | {pad, {DefaultX, DefaultY}}, DefaultX :: term(), DefaultY :: term(), T :: term().

    Combines the elements of two lists into a single list using the Combine fun.

    For each pair X, Y of list elements from the two lists, the element in the result list is Combine(X, Y).

    For a description of the How parameter, see zip/3.

    zipwith(fun(X, Y) -> {X,Y} end, List1, List2) is equivalent to zip(List1, List2).

  Examples

    1> lists:zipwith(fun(X, Y) -> X+Y end, [1,2,3], [4,5,6], fail).
    [5,7,9]
zipwith3(Combine, List1, List2, List3, How) -> List4 when Combine :: fun((X | DefaultX, Y | DefaultY, Z | DefaultZ) -> T), List1 :: [X], List2 :: [Y], List3 :: [Z], List4 :: [T], X :: term(), Y :: term(), Z :: term(), How :: fail | trim | {pad, {DefaultX, DefaultY, DefaultZ}}, DefaultX :: term(), DefaultY :: term(), DefaultZ :: term(), T :: term().

    Combines the elements of three lists into a single list using the Combine fun.

    For each triple X, Y, Z of list elements from the three lists, the element in the result list is Combine(X, Y, Z).

    For a description of the How parameter, see zip/3.

    zipwith3(fun(X, Y, Z) -> {X,Y,Z} end, List1, List2, List3) is equivalent to zip3(List1, List2, List3).

  Examples

    1> lists:zipwith3(fun(X, Y, Z) -> X+Y+Z end, [1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9], fail).
    [12,15,18]
    2> lists:zipwith3(fun(X, Y, Z) -> [X,Y,Z] end, [a,b,c], [x,y,z], [1,2,3], fail).
    [[a,x,1],[b,y,2],[c,z,3]]