X-Git-Url: http://lambda.jimpryor.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=lambda.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=topics%2F_week7_monads.mdwn;h=32f7ac02fbacef95a6c54fa11de16bc87d194cf9;hp=61d50094fe6c41d2064ba29c6f504c62082ff206;hb=30def3dcf083271e4e097c7a90b9937e1a8518c2;hpb=471e06ab9fd5bd6beaf7a9ccd17830b54969a5c7 diff --git a/topics/_week7_monads.mdwn b/topics/_week7_monads.mdwn index 61d50094..32f7ac02 100644 --- a/topics/_week7_monads.mdwn +++ b/topics/_week7_monads.mdwn @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ - + Monads @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ The [[tradition in the functional programming literature|https://wiki.haskell.org/Monad_tutorials_timeline]] is to introduce monads using a metaphor: monads are spacesuits, monads are monsters, monads are burritos. We're part of the backlash that -prefers to say that monads are monads. +prefers to say that monads are (Just) monads. The closest we will come to metaphorical talk is to suggest that monadic types place objects inside of *boxes*, and that monads wrap @@ -17,22 +17,22 @@ any case, the emphasis will be on starting with the abstract structure of monads, followed by instances of monads from the philosophical and linguistics literature. -### Boxes: type expressions with one free type variable +## Box types: type expressions with one free type variable Recall that we've been using lower-case Greek letters -α, β, γ, ... to represent types. We'll +α, β, γ, ... as variables over types. We'll use `P`, `Q`, `R`, and `S` as metavariables over type schemas, where a type schema is a type expression that may or may not contain unbound type variables. For instance, we might have - P ≡ Int - P ≡ α -> α - P ≡ ∀α. α -> α - P ≡ ∀α. α -> β + P_1 ≡ Int + P_2 ≡ α -> α + P_3 ≡ ∀α. α -> α + P_4 ≡ ∀α. α -> β etc. -A box type will be a type expression that contains exactly one free +A *box type* will be a type expression that contains exactly one free type variable. Some examples (using OCaml's type conventions): α Maybe @@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ would write for the type of a boxed Int. +## Kleisli arrows + At the most general level, we'll talk about *Kleisli arrows*: P -> Q @@ -70,15 +72,15 @@ if `α List` is our box type, we can write the second arrow as Int -> Int -We'll need a number of schematic functions to help us maneuver in the presence -of box types. We will want to define a different instance of each of -these for whichever box type we're dealing with: +We'll need a number of classes of functions to help us maneuver in the +presence of box types. We will want to define a different instance of +each of these for whichever box type we're dealing with: mid (/εmaidεnt@tI/ aka unit, return, pure): P -> P map (/maep/): (P -> Q) -> P -> Q -map2 (/maep/): (P -> Q -> R) -> P -> Q -> R +map2 (/maeptu/): (P -> Q -> R) -> P -> Q -> R mapply (/εm@plai/): P -> Q -> P -> Q @@ -92,30 +94,34 @@ these for whichever box type we're dealing with: mjoin: P -> P -Note that `mcompose` and `mbind` are interdefinable: u >=> k ≡ \a. (ja >>= k). +The managerie isn't quite as bewildering as you might suppose. For +one thing, `mcompose` and `mbind` are interdefinable: u >=> k ≡ +\a. (ja >>= k). -In most cases of interest, the specific instances of these types will -provide certain useful guarantees. +In most cases of interest, instances of these types will provide +certain useful guarantees. -* ***Mappable*** ("functors") At the most general level, some box types are *Mappable* -if there is a `map` function defined for that boxt type with the type given above. +* ***Mappable*** ("functors") At the most general level, box types are *Mappable* +if there is a `map` function defined for that box type with the type given above. * ***MapNable*** ("applicatives") A Mappable box type is *MapNable* - if there are in addition `map2`, `mid`, and `mapply`. + if there are in addition `map2`, `mid`, and `mapply`. (With + `map2` in hand, `map3`, `map4`, ... `mapN` are easily definable.) -* ***Monad*** ("composable") A MapNable box type is a *Monad* if - there is in addition a `mcompose` and `join`. In addition, in - order to qualify as a monad, `mid` must be a left and right - identity for mcompose, and mcompose must be associative. That - is, the following "laws" must hold: +* ***Monad*** ("composable") A MapNable box type is a *Monad* if there + is in addition an `mcompose` and a `join` such that `mid` is be + a left and right identity for `mcompose`, and `mcompose` is + associative. That is, the following "laws" must hold: mcompose mid k = k mcompose k mid = k mcompose (mcompose j k) l = mcompose j (mcompose k l) -To take a trivial example (but still useful, as we will see), consider -the identity box type Id: `α -> α`. In terms of the box analogy, the -Identity box type is an invisible box. With the following definitions +To take a trivial (but, as we will see, still useful) example, +consider the identity box type Id: `α -> α`. So if α is type Bool, +then a boxed α is ... a Bool. In terms of the box analogy, the +Identity box type is a completly invisible box. With the following +definitions mid ≡ \p.p mcompose ≡ \f\g\x.f(gx) @@ -143,18 +149,32 @@ Id is a monad. Here is a demonstration that the laws hold: Id is the favorite monad of mimes everywhere. -To take a slightly less trivial example, consider the box type `α -List`, with the following operations: +To take a slightly less trivial (and even more useful) example, +consider the box type `α List`, with the following operations: - mcompose f g p = [r | q <- g p, r <- f q] + mid: α -> [α] + mid a = [a] + + mcompose-crossy: (β -> [γ]) -> (α -> [β]) -> (α -> [γ]) + mcompose-crossy f g a = [c | b <- g a, c <- f b] -In words, if g maps a P to a list of Qs, and f maps a Q to a list of -Rs, then mcompose f g maps a P to a list of Rs by first feeding the P -to g, then feeding each of the Qs delivered by g to f. For example, +In words, `mcompose f g a` feeds the a (which has type α) to g, which +returns a list of βs; each β in that list is fed to f, which returns a +list of γs. The final result is the concatenation of those lists of γs. +For example, - let f q = [q, q+1] in - let g p = [p*p, p+p] in - mcompose f g 7 = [49, 50, 14, 15] + let f b = [b, b+1] in + let g a = [a*a, a+a] in + mcompose-crossy f g 7 = [49, 50, 14, 15] It is easy to see that these definitions obey the monad laws (see exercises). +There can be multiple monads for any given box type. For isntance, +using the same box type and the same mid, we can define + + mcompose-zippy f g a = match (f,g) with + ([],_) -> [] + (_,[]) -> [] + (f:ftail, g:gtail) -> f(ga) && mcompoze-zippy ftail gtail a + +