Here are some papers that introduced monads into functional programming:
-* [Eugenio Moggi, Notions of Computation and Monads](http://www.disi.unige.it/person/MoggiE/ftp/ic91.pdf): Information and Computation 93 (1) 1991.
+* [Eugenio Moggi, Notions of Computation and Monads](http://www.disi.unige.it/person/MoggiE/ftp/ic91.pdf): Information and Computation 93 (1) 1991. Would be very difficult reading for members of this seminar. However, the following two papers should be accessible.
+
+* [Philip Wadler. The essence of functional programming](http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/papers/essence/essence.ps):
+invited talk, *19'th Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages*, ACM Press, Albuquerque, January 1992.
+<!-- This paper explores the use monads to structure functional programs. No prior knowledge of monads or category theory is required.
+ Monads increase the ease with which programs may be modified. They can mimic the effect of impure features such as exceptions, state, and continuations; and also provide effects not easily achieved with such features. The types of a program reflect which effects occur.
+ The first section is an extended example of the use of monads. A simple interpreter is modified to support various extra features: error messages, state, output, and non-deterministic choice. The second section describes the relation between monads and continuation-passing style. The third section sketches how monads are used in a compiler for Haskell that is written in Haskell.-->
* [Philip Wadler. Monads for Functional Programming](http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/papers/marktoberdorf/baastad.pdf):
in M. Broy, editor, *Marktoberdorf Summer School on Program Design
Calculi*, Springer Verlag, NATO ASI Series F: Computer and systems
sciences, Volume 118, August 1992. Also in J. Jeuring and E. Meijer,
editors, *Advanced Functional Programming*, Springer Verlag,
-LNCS 925, 1995. Some errata fixed August 2001. This paper has a great first
-line: **Shall I be pure, or impure?**
+LNCS 925, 1995. Some errata fixed August 2001.
<!-- The use of monads to structure functional programs is described. Monads provide a convenient framework for simulating effects found in other languages, such as global state, exception handling, output, or non-determinism. Three case studies are looked at in detail: how monads ease the modification of a simple evaluator; how monads act as the basis of a datatype of arrays subject to in-place update; and how monads can be used to build parsers.-->
-* [Philip Wadler. The essence of functional programming](http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/papers/essence/essence.ps):
-invited talk, *19'th Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages*, ACM Press, Albuquerque, January 1992.
-<!-- This paper explores the use monads to structure functional programs. No prior knowledge of monads or category theory is required.
- Monads increase the ease with which programs may be modified. They can mimic the effect of impure features such as exceptions, state, and continuations; and also provide effects not easily achieved with such features. The types of a program reflect which effects occur.
- The first section is an extended example of the use of monads. A simple interpreter is modified to support various extra features: error messages, state, output, and non-deterministic choice. The second section describes the relation between monads and continuation-passing style. The third section sketches how monads are used in a compiler for Haskell that is written in Haskell.-->
There's a long list of monad tutorials on the [[Offsite Reading]] page. (Skimming the titles is somewhat amusing.) If you are confused by monads, make use of these resources. Read around until you find a tutorial pitched at a level that's helpful for you.