Either

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The Either data type represents two exclusive possible values: an Either<R, L> can be either a Right value or a Left value, where R represents the type of the Right value and L represents the type of the Left value.

Understanding Either and Exit

  • Either is primarily used as a simple discriminated union and is not recommended as the main result type for operations requiring detailed error information.

  • Exit is the preferred result type within Effect for capturing comprehensive details about failures. It encapsulates the outcomes of effectful computations, distinguishing between success and various failure modes, such as errors, defects and interruptions.

Creating Eithers

You can create an Either using the Either.right and Either.left constructors.

  • The Either.right function takes a value of type R and constructs a Either<R, never>:

    ts
    import { Either } from "effect"
     
    const rightValue = Either.right(42)
    ts
    import { Either } from "effect"
     
    const rightValue = Either.right(42)

  • The Either.left function takes a value of type L and constructs a Either<never, L>:

    ts
    import { Either } from "effect"
     
    const leftValue = Either.left("not a number")
    ts
    import { Either } from "effect"
     
    const leftValue = Either.left("not a number")

Guards

You can determine whether an Either is a Left or a Right by using the Either.isLeft and Either.isRight guards:

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const foo = Either.right(42)
 
if (Either.isLeft(foo)) {
  console.log(`The left value is: ${foo.left}`)
} else {
  console.log(`The Right value is: ${foo.right}`)
}
// Output: "The Right value is: 42"
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const foo = Either.right(42)
 
if (Either.isLeft(foo)) {
  console.log(`The left value is: ${foo.left}`)
} else {
  console.log(`The Right value is: ${foo.right}`)
}
// Output: "The Right value is: 42"

Pattern Matching

The Either.match function allows you to handle different cases of an Either by providing separate callbacks for each case:

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const foo = Either.right(42)
 
const message = Either.match(foo, {
  onLeft: (left) => `The left value is: ${left}`,
  onRight: (right) => `The Right value is: ${right}`
})
 
console.log(message) // Output: "The Right value is: 42"
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const foo = Either.right(42)
 
const message = Either.match(foo, {
  onLeft: (left) => `The left value is: ${left}`,
  onRight: (right) => `The Right value is: ${right}`
})
 
console.log(message) // Output: "The Right value is: 42"

Using match instead of isLeft or isRight can be more expressive and provide a clear way to handle both cases of an Either.

Working with Either

Once you have an Either, there are several operations you can perform on it.

Mapping over the Right Value

You can use the Either.map function to transform the Right value of an Either. The Either.map function takes a transformation function that maps the Right value.

If the Either value is a Left value, the transformation function is ignored, and the Left value is returned unchanged.

Example

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
Either.map(Either.right(1), (n) => n + 1) // right(2)
 
Either.map(Either.left("not a number"), (n) => n + 1) // left("not a number")
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
Either.map(Either.right(1), (n) => n + 1) // right(2)
 
Either.map(Either.left("not a number"), (n) => n + 1) // left("not a number")

Mapping over the Left Value

You can use the Either.mapLeft function to transform the Left value of an Either. The mapLeft function takes a transformation function that maps the Left.

If the Either value is a Right value, the transformation function is ignored, and the Right value is returned unchanged.

Example

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
Either.mapLeft(Either.right(1), (s) => s + "!") // right(1)
 
Either.mapLeft(Either.left("not a number"), (s) => s + "!") // left("not a number!")
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
Either.mapLeft(Either.right(1), (s) => s + "!") // right(1)
 
Either.mapLeft(Either.left("not a number"), (s) => s + "!") // left("not a number!")

Mapping over Both Values

You can use the Either.mapBoth function to transform both the Left and Right values of an Either. The mapBoth function takes two transformation functions: one for the Left value and one for the Right value.

Example

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
Either.mapBoth(Either.right(1), {
  onLeft: (s) => s + "!",
  onRight: (n) => n + 1
}) // right(2)
 
Either.mapBoth(Either.left("not a number"), {
  onLeft: (s) => s + "!",
  onRight: (n) => n + 1
}) // left("not a number!")
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
Either.mapBoth(Either.right(1), {
  onLeft: (s) => s + "!",
  onRight: (n) => n + 1
}) // right(2)
 
Either.mapBoth(Either.left("not a number"), {
  onLeft: (s) => s + "!",
  onRight: (n) => n + 1
}) // left("not a number!")

Interop with Effect

The Either type is a subtype of the Effect type, which means that it can be seamlessly used with functions from the Effect module. These functions are primarily designed to work with Effect values, but they can also handle Either values and process them correctly.

In the context of Effect, the two members of the Either type are treated as follows:

  • Left<L> is equivalent to Effect<never, L>
  • Right<R> is equivalent to Effect<R>

To illustrate this interoperability, let's consider the following example:

ts
import { Effect, Either } from "effect"
 
const head = <A>(array: ReadonlyArray<A>): Either.Either<A, string> =>
  array.length > 0 ? Either.right(array[0]) : Either.left("empty array")
 
const foo = Effect.runSync(Effect.andThen(Effect.succeed([1, 2, 3]), head))
console.log(foo) // Output: 1
 
const bar = Effect.runSync(Effect.andThen(Effect.succeed([]), head)) // throws "empty array"
ts
import { Effect, Either } from "effect"
 
const head = <A>(array: ReadonlyArray<A>): Either.Either<A, string> =>
  array.length > 0 ? Either.right(array[0]) : Either.left("empty array")
 
const foo = Effect.runSync(Effect.andThen(Effect.succeed([1, 2, 3]), head))
console.log(foo) // Output: 1
 
const bar = Effect.runSync(Effect.andThen(Effect.succeed([]), head)) // throws "empty array"

Combining Two or More Eithers

The Either.zipWith function allows you to combine two Either values using a provided function. It creates a new Either that holds the combined value of both original Either values.

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.right(25)
 
const person = Either.zipWith(maybeName, maybeAge, (name, age) => ({
  name: name.toUpperCase(),
  age
}))
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Right', right: { name: 'JOHN', age: 25 } }
*/
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.right(25)
 
const person = Either.zipWith(maybeName, maybeAge, (name, age) => ({
  name: name.toUpperCase(),
  age
}))
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Right', right: { name: 'JOHN', age: 25 } }
*/

The Either.zipWith function takes three arguments:

  • The first Either you want to combine
  • The second Either you want to combine
  • A function that takes two arguments, which are the values held by the two Either, and returns the combined value

It's important to note that if either of the two Either values is Left, the resulting Either will also be Left, containing the value of the first encountered Left:

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("Oh no!")
)
 
const person = Either.zipWith(maybeName, maybeAge, (name, age) => ({
  name: name.toUpperCase(),
  age
}))
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Left', left: new Error("Oh no!") }
*/
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("Oh no!")
)
 
const person = Either.zipWith(maybeName, maybeAge, (name, age) => ({
  name: name.toUpperCase(),
  age
}))
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Left', left: new Error("Oh no!") }
*/

If you need to combine two or more Eithers without transforming the values they hold, you can use Either.all, which takes a collection of Eithers and returns an Either with the same structure.

  • If a tuple is provided, the returned Either will contain a tuple with the same length.
  • If a struct is provided, the returned Either will contain a struct with the same keys.
  • If an iterable is provided, the returned Either will contain an array.
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.right(25)
 
const tuple = Either.all([maybeName, maybeAge])
 
const struct = Either.all({ name: maybeName, age: maybeAge })
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.right(25)
 
const tuple = Either.all([maybeName, maybeAge])
 
const struct = Either.all({ name: maybeName, age: maybeAge })

Note that if one or more Either is a Left, then the first encountered Left will be returned:

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("name not found")
)
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("age not found")
)
const tuple = Either.all([maybeName, maybeAge])
console.log(tuple)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Left', left: new Error("name not found") }
*/
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("name not found")
)
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("age not found")
)
const tuple = Either.all([maybeName, maybeAge])
console.log(tuple)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Left', left: new Error("name not found") }
*/

gen

Similar to Effect.gen, there's also Either.gen, which provides a convenient syntax, akin to async/await, for writing code involving Either and using generators.

Let's revisit the previous example, this time using Either.gen instead of Either.zipWith:

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.right(25)
 
const person = Either.gen(function* () {
  const name = (yield* maybeName).toUpperCase()
  const age = yield* maybeAge
  return { name, age }
})
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Right', right: { name: 'JOHN', age: 25 } }
*/
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.right(25)
 
const person = Either.gen(function* () {
  const name = (yield* maybeName).toUpperCase()
  const age = yield* maybeAge
  return { name, age }
})
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Right', right: { name: 'JOHN', age: 25 } }
*/

Once again, if either of the two Either values is Left, the resulting Either will also be Left:

ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("Oh no!")
)
 
const person = Either.gen(function* () {
  const name = (yield* maybeName).toUpperCase()
  const age = yield* maybeAge
  return { name, age }
})
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Left', left: new Error("Oh no!") }
*/
ts
import { Either } from "effect"
 
const maybeName: Either.Either<string, Error> = Either.right("John")
const maybeAge: Either.Either<number, Error> = Either.left(
  new Error("Oh no!")
)
 
const person = Either.gen(function* () {
  const name = (yield* maybeName).toUpperCase()
  const age = yield* maybeAge
  return { name, age }
})
 
console.log(person)
/*
Output:
{ _id: 'Either', _tag: 'Left', left: new Error("Oh no!") }
*/