Implement Dictionary.patchDiff (closes #19)

src/Dictionary/init.luau

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ local dictionary = {
     map = require("./map"),
     merge = require("./merge"),
     mergeDeep = require("./mergeDeep"),
+    patchDiff = require("./patchDiff"),
     removeKey = require("./removeKey"),
     removeKeys = require("./removeKeys"),
     removeValue = require("./removeValue"),

src/Dictionary/patchDiff.luau

@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+export type Operation = "add" | "remove" | "replace"
+
+export type Patch<K, V> = {
+    op: Operation,
+    path: { K },
+    value: V,
+}
+
+--[=[
+    @within Dictionary
+
+    Returns an array of patches that can be applied to `dictionary` to make it equal to `other`. This is a deep comparison. The patches are similar to those used in [JSON Patch](https://jsonpatch.com/).
+
+    ```lua
+    local dictionary1 = {
+        foo = "bar",
+        qux = {
+            baz = "quux",
+        },
+    }
+
+    local dictionary2 = {
+        foo = "bar",
+        qux = {
+            baz = "quuz",
+        },
+        baz = "quux",
+    }
+
+    patchDiff(dictionary1, dictionary2) --[[
+        {
+            { op = "replace", path = { "qux", "baz" }, value = "quuz" },
+            { op = "add", path = { "baz" }, value = "quux" },
+        }
+    ]]
+    ```
+]=]
+local function patchDiff<K, V, T>(dictionary: { [K]: V }, other: { [K]: V }): { Patch<K, V> }
+    local out: { any } = {}
+
+    for key, value in dictionary do
+        if other[key] == nil then
+            table.insert(out, {
+                op = "remove",
+                path = { key },
+                value = value,
+            })
+
+            continue
+        end
+
+        if typeof(value) == "table" then
+            local subpatches = patchDiff(value, other[key])
+
+            for _, patch in subpatches do
+                table.insert(out, {
+                    op = patch.op :: any,
+                    path = { key, table.unpack(patch.path) },
+                    value = patch.value,
+                })
+            end
+
+            continue
+        end
+
+        if value ~= other[key] then
+            table.insert(out, {
+                op = "replace",
+                path = { key },
+                value = other[key],
+            })
+        end
+    end
+
+    for key, value in other do
+        if dictionary[key] == nil then
+            table.insert(out, {
+                op = "add",
+                path = { key },
+                value = value,
+            })
+        end
+    end
+
+    return out
+end
+
+return patchDiff