Abstract

These three mythical beasts each provide a different interface for composing (possibly effectful) computations. In the presence of side effects, they also give us a way to identify code that may be “infected” by these effects. What exactly is the relationship between these three concepts? What characteristics differentiate monads from arrows and applicative functors (also known as idioms), and why would we want to have all three?

In order to actually use a monad, arrow, or applicative functor, we have to have a concrete instance: for example, the State or Maybe monads. Each instantiation must obey certain laws in order to qualify as a valid implementation. What are these laws? More importantly, given one of these concrete instantiations for a monad, can we translate it into an instance of an arrow or applicative functor, or vice versa?

I will be giving an introduction to monads, arrows, and applicative functors; discussing the relationships between the three; and offering answers to the questions posed above.