If you want to cover all data types you can define an implementation for Any
data type. Lastly, if you have time, check the source code of Enum and String.Char, which are good examples of polymorphism in core Elixir.
Let's implement a basic protocol that converts Kelvin and Fahrenheit temperatures to Celsius.
defmodule Kelvin do defstruct name: "Kelvin", symbol: "K", degree: 0 end defmodule Fahrenheit do defstruct name: "Fahrenheit", symbol: "°F", degree: 0 end defmodule Celsius do defstruct name: "Celsius", symbol: "°C", degree: 0 end defprotocol Temperature do @doc """ Convert Kelvin and Fahrenheit to Celsius degree """ def to_celsius(degree) end defimpl Temperature, for: Kelvin do @doc """ Deduct 273.15 """ def to_celsius(kelvin) do celsius_degree = kelvin.degree - 273.15 %Celsius{degree: celsius_degree} end end defimpl Temperature, for: Fahrenheit do @doc """ Deduct 32, then multiply by 5, then divide by 9 """ def to_celsius(fahrenheit) do celsius_degree = (fahrenheit.degree - 32) * 5 / 9 %Celsius{degree: celsius_degree} end end
Now, we implemented our converters for the Kelvin and Fahrenheit types. Let's make some conversions:
iex> fahrenheit = %Fahrenheit{degree: 45} %Fahrenheit{degree: 45, name: "Fahrenheit", symbol: "°F"} iex> celsius = Temperature.to_celsius(fahrenheit) %Celsius{degree: 7.22, name: "Celsius", symbol: "°C"} iex> kelvin = %Kelvin{degree: 300} %Kelvin{degree: 300, name: "Kelvin", symbol: "K"} iex> celsius = Temperature.to_celsius(kelvin) %Celsius{degree: 26.85, name: "Celsius", symbol: "°C"}
Let's try to convert any other data type which has no implementation for to_celsius
function:
iex> Temperature.to_celsius(%{degree: 12}) ** (Protocol.UndefinedError) protocol Temperature not implemented for %{degree: 12} iex:11: Temperature.impl_for!/1 iex:15: Temperature.to_celsius/1