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Concept
Monad (functional programming)
Summary
In functional programming, a monad is a structure that combines program fragments (functions) and wraps their return values in a type with additional computation. In addition to defining a wrapping monadic type, monads define two operators: one to wrap a value in the monad type, and another to compose together functions that output values of the monad type (these are known as monadic functions). General-purpose languages use monads to reduce boilerplate code needed for common operations (such as dealing with undefined values or fallible functions, or encapsulating bookkeeping code). Functional languages use monads to turn complicated sequences of functions into succinct pipelines that abstract away control flow, and side-effects.
Both the concept of a monad and the term originally come from , where a monad is defined as a functor with additional structure. Research beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s established that monads could bring seemingly disparate computer-science problems under a unified, functional model. Category theory also provides a few formal requirements, known as the monad laws, which should be satisfied by any monad and can be used to verify monadic code.
Since monads make semantics explicit for a kind of computation, they can also be used to implement convenient language features. Some languages, such as Haskell, even offer pre-built definitions in their core libraries for the general monad structure and common instances.
"For a monad m, a value of type m a represents having access to a value of type a within the context of the monad." —C. A. McCann
More exactly, a monad can be used where unrestricted access to a value is inappropriate for reasons specific to the scenario. In the case of the Maybe monad, it is because the value may not exist. In the case of the IO monad, it is because the value may not be known yet, such as when the monad represents user input that will only be provided after a prompt is displayed.
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