From 41c53b3f1efc7dbc713bc74917385db510d1f468 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Matthijs Blom <19817960+MatthijsBlom@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2023 15:41:22 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Add introduction

---
 .../.approaches/introduction.md               | 204 ++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 204 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/introduction.md

diff --git a/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/introduction.md b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/introduction.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..680ee702a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/introduction.md
@@ -0,0 +1,204 @@
+# Introduction
+
+This problem requires both
+
+- validating that all input characters validly denote DNA nucleobases, and
+- producing these DNA nucleobases' corresponding RNA nucleobases.
+
+The first below listed approach has these tasks performed separately.
+The other ones combine them in a single pass, in progressively more succinct ways.
+
+
+## Approach: validate first, then transcribe
+
+```haskell
+toRNA :: String -> Either Char String
+toRNA dna =
+  case find (`notElem` "GCTA") dna of
+    Nothing -> Right (map transcribe dna)
+    Just c -> Left c
+  where
+    transcribe = \case
+      'G' -> 'C'
+      'C' -> 'G'
+      'T' -> 'A'
+      'A' -> 'U'
+```
+
+First search for the first invalid nucleobase.
+If you find one, return it.
+If all are valid, transcribe the entire strand in one go using `map`.
+
+This approach has the input walked twice.
+Other approaches solve this problem in one pass.
+
+This solution deals with nucleobases twice: first when validating, and again when transcribing.
+Ideally, nucleobases are dealt with in only one place in the code.
+
+[Read more about this approach][validate-first].
+
+
+## Approach: a single pass using only elementary operations
+
+```haskell
+toRNA :: String -> Either Char String
+toRNA [] = Right []
+toRNA (n : dna) = case transcribe n of
+  Nothing -> Left n
+  Just n' -> case toRNA dna of
+    Left c -> Left c
+    Right rna -> Right (n' : rna)
+
+transcribe :: Char -> Maybe Char
+transcribe = \case
+  'G' -> Just 'C'
+  'C' -> Just 'G'
+  'T' -> Just 'A'
+  'A' -> Just 'U'
+  _ -> Nothing
+```
+
+This solution combines validation and transcription in a single list traversal.
+It is _elementary_ in the sense that it employs no abstractions: it uses only constructors (`[]`, `(:)`, `Nothing`, `Just`, `Left`, `Right`) and pattern matching, and no predefined functions at all.
+
+Some of the code patterns used in this solution are very common, and were therefore abstracted into standard library functions.
+The approaches listed below show how much these functions can help to concisely express this approach's logic.
+
+[Read more about this approach][elementary].
+
+
+## Approach: use `do`-notation
+
+```haskell
+toRNA :: String -> Either Char String
+toRNA [] = pure []
+toRNA (n : dna) = do
+  n' <- transcribe n
+  rna <- toRNA dna
+  pure (n' : rna)
+
+transcribe :: Char -> Either Char Char
+transcribe = \case
+  'G' -> Right 'C'
+  'C' -> Right 'G'
+  'T' -> Right 'A'
+  'A' -> Right 'U'
+  c -> Left c
+```
+
+The [elementary solution][elementary] displays a common pattern that can equivalently be expressed using the common monadic `>>=` combinator and its `do`-notation [syntactic sugar][wikipedia-syntactic-sugar].
+
+[Read more about this approach][do-notation].
+
+
+## Approach: use `Functor`/`Applicative` combinators
+
+```haskell
+toRNA :: String -> Either Char String
+toRNA [] = pure []
+toRNA (n : dna) = (:) <$> transcribe n <*> toRNA dna
+
+transcribe :: Char -> Either Char Char
+transcribe = \case
+  'G' -> Right 'C'
+  'C' -> Right 'G'
+  'T' -> Right 'A'
+  'A' -> Right 'U'
+  c -> Left c
+```
+
+The [elementary solution][elementary] displays a number of common patterns.
+As demonstrated by the [`do` notation solution][do-notation], these can be expressed with the `>>=` operator.
+However, the full power of `Monad` is not required.
+The same logic can also be expressed using common functorial combinators such as `fmap`/`<$>` and `<*>`.
+
+[Read more about this approach][functorial-combinators].
+
+
+## Approach: use `traverse`
+
+```haskell
+toRNA :: String -> Either Char String
+toRNA = traverse $ \case
+  'G' -> Right 'C'
+  'C' -> Right 'G'
+  'T' -> Right 'A'
+  'A' -> Right 'U'
+  n -> Left n
+```
+
+As it turns out, the [solution that uses functorial combinators][functorial-combinators] closely resembles the definition of `traverse` for lists.
+In fact, through a series of rewritings it can be shown to be equivalent.
+
+[Read more about this approach][traverse].
+
+
+## General guidance
+
+### Language extensions
+
+For various reasons, some of GHC's features are locked behind switches known as _language extensions_.
+You can enable these by putting so-called _language pragmas_ at the top of your file:
+
+```haskell
+-- This 👇 is a language pragma
+{-# LANGUAGE LambdaCase #-}
+
+module DNA (toRNA) where
+
+{-
+    The rest of your code here
+-}
+```
+
+
+#### `LambdaCase`
+
+Consider the following possible definition of `map`.
+
+```haskell
+map f xs = case xs of
+  []     -> []
+  x : xs' -> f x : map xs'
+```
+
+Here, a parameter `xs` is introduced only to be immediately pattern matched against, after which it is never used again.
+
+Coming up with good names for such throwaway variables can be tedious and hard.
+The `LambdaCase` extension allows us to avoid having to by providing an extra bit of [syntactic sugar][wikipedia-syntactic-sugar]:
+
+```haskell
+f = \case { }
+-- is syntactic sugar for / an abbreviation of
+f = \x -> case x of { }
+```
+
+The above definition of `map` can equivalently be written as
+
+```haskell
+map f = \case
+  []     -> []
+  x : xs -> f x : map f xs
+```
+
+
+[do-notation]:
+    https://exercism.org/tracks/haskell/exercises/rna-transcription/approaches/do-notation
+    "Approach: use do-notation"
+[elementary]:
+    https://exercism.org/tracks/haskell/exercises/rna-transcription/approaches/elementary
+    "Approach: a single pass using only elementary operations"
+[functorial-combinators]:
+    https://exercism.org/tracks/haskell/exercises/rna-transcription/approaches/functorial-combinators
+    "Approach: use Functor/Applicative combinators"
+[traverse]:
+    https://exercism.org/tracks/haskell/exercises/rna-transcription/approaches/traverse
+    "Approach: use traverse"
+[validate-first]:
+    https://exercism.org/tracks/haskell/exercises/rna-transcription/approaches/validate-first
+    "Approach: validate first"
+
+
+[wikipedia-syntactic-sugar]:
+    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntactic_sugar
+    "Wikipedia: Syntactic sugar"

From eaf801128e0ee84fb7a6eccfa3d0decce052bbc5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Matthijs Blom <19817960+MatthijsBlom@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2023 22:05:19 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Add approach: validate first, then transcribe

---
 .../rna-transcription/.approaches/config.json | 18 +++++++
 .../.approaches/validate-first/content.md     | 54 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../.approaches/validate-first/snippet.txt    |  8 +++
 3 files changed, 80 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/config.json
 create mode 100644 exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/content.md
 create mode 100644 exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/snippet.txt

diff --git a/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/config.json b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/config.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b202d7112
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+{
+    "introduction": {
+        "authors": [
+            "MatthijsBlom"
+        ]
+    },
+    "approaches": [
+        {
+            "uuid": "209cd027-6f98-47ac-a77f-8a083e0cd100",
+            "slug": "validate-first",
+            "title": "Validate first, then transcribe",
+            "blurb": "First, find out whether there are invalid characters in the input. Then, if there aren't, transcribe the strand in one go.",
+            "authors": [
+                "MatthijsBlom"
+            ]
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/content.md b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/content.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7bed275a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/content.md
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Validate first, then transcribe
+
+```haskell
+toRNA :: String -> Either Char String
+toRNA dna =
+  case find (`notElem` "GCTA") dna of
+    Nothing -> Right (map transcribe dna)
+    Just c -> Left c
+  where
+    transcribe = \case
+      'G' -> 'C'
+      'C' -> 'G'
+      'T' -> 'A'
+      'A' -> 'U'
+```
+
+One approach to solving this problem is to
+
+- first check that all input characters are valid,
+- return one of the invalid characters if there are any, and otherwise to
+- convert all the DNA nucleotides into RNA nucleotides.
+
+Some submitted solutions retrieve the invalid character (if present) in two steps:
+
+- first check that there are _some_ invalid characters, for example using `any`, and
+- then find the first one, for example using `filter` and `head`.
+
+The solution highlighted here combines these steps into one.
+As used here, `find` returns `Nothing` if there are no invalid characters, and if there are then it returns `Just` the first one.
+By pattern matching on `find`'s result it is determined how to proceed.
+
+For transcribing DNA nucleobases into RNA nucleobases a locally defined function `transcribe` is used.
+It is a [partial function][wiki-partial-functions]: when given any character other than `'G'`, `'C'`, `'T'`, or `'A'` it will crash.
+
+Partial functions display behavior (e.g. crashing) that is not documented in their types.
+This tends to make reasoning about code that uses them more difficult.
+For this reason, partial functions are generally to be avoided.
+
+Partiality is less objectionable in local functions than in global ones, because in local contexts it is easier to make sure that functions are never applied to problematic arguments.
+Indeed, in the solution highlighted above it is clear that `transcribe` will never be applied to a problematic character, as if there were any such characters in `dna` then `find` would have returned `Just _` and not `Nothing`.
+
+Still, it would be nice if it weren't necessary to check that `transcribe` is never applied to invalid characters.
+`transcribe` is forced by its `Char -> Char` type to either be partial or else to return bogus values for some inputs &ndash; which would be similarly undesirable.
+But another type, such as `Char -> Maybe Char`, would allow `transcribe` to be total.
+The other approaches use such a variant.
+
+This approach has the input walked twice (or thrice).
+It is possible to solve this problem by walking the input only once.
+The other approaches illustrate how.
+
+
+[wiki-partial-functions]:
+    https://wiki.haskell.org/Partial_functions
+    "Haskell Wiki: Partial functions"
diff --git a/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/snippet.txt b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/snippet.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fb2f86ca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/exercises/practice/rna-transcription/.approaches/validate-first/snippet.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+toRNA :: String -> Either Char String
+toRNA dna =
+  case find (`notElem` "GCTA") dna of
+    Nothing -> Right (map transcribe dna)
+    Just c -> Left c
+  where
+    transcribe = \case
+      'G' -> 'C'