Problem 4: I Heard You Liked Functions... (150pts)

Define a function cycle that takes in three functions f1, f2, f3, as arguments. cycle will return another function that should take in an integer argument n and return another function. That final function should take in an argument x and cycle through applying f1, f2, and f3 to x, depending on what n was. Here's what the final function should do to x for a few values of n:

  • n = 0, return x
  • n = 1, apply f1 to x, or return f1(x)
  • n = 2, apply f1 to x, and then f2 to the result of that, or return f2(f1(x))
  • n = 3, apply f1 to x, f2 to the result of applying f1, and then f3 to the result of applying f2, or f3(f2(f1(x)))
  • n = 4, start the cycle again applying f1, then f2, then f3, then f1 again, or f1(f3(f2(f1(x))))
  • And so forth.

Hint: most of the work goes inside the most nested function.

def cycle(f1, f2, f3):
    """Returns a function that is itself a higher-order function.

    >>> def add1(x):
    ...     return x + 1
    >>> def times2(x):
    ...     return x * 2
    >>> def add3(x):
    ...     return x + 3
    >>> my_cycle = cycle(add1, times2, add3)
    >>> identity = my_cycle(0)
    >>> identity(5)
    5
    >>> add_one_then_double = my_cycle(2)
    >>> add_one_then_double(1)
    4
    >>> do_all_functions = my_cycle(3)
    >>> do_all_functions(2)
    9
    >>> do_more_than_a_cycle = my_cycle(4)
    >>> do_more_than_a_cycle(2)
    10
    >>> do_two_cycles = my_cycle(6)
    >>> do_two_cycles(1)
    19
    """
    "*** YOUR CODE HERE ***"