On Mon, Jun 28, 2004 at 02:59:39PM +0100, Graham Klyne wrote:
> Is there a function that switches monadic layering?
>
> f :: (Monad m1,Monad m2) => m1 (m2 a) -> m2 (m1 a)
>
> Does this even make sense in the general case? I'm thinking along the
> lines of a generalization of sequence to non-list monads.
Such a function is called a distributive law of m1 over m2 if it satisfies
the following equations (subscripts added for readability):
f . return_1 = liftM_2 return_1
f . liftM_1 return_2 = return_2
f . join_1 = liftM_2 join_1 . f . liftM_1 f
f . liftM_1 join_2 = join_2 . liftM_2 f . f
The composition m2.m1 can be made a monad in a standard way:
return = return_2 . return_1
join = liftM_2 join_1 . join_2 . liftM_2 f
if and only if such a distributive law exists. See section 9.2 of
"Toposes, Triples and Theories", by Michael Barr and Charles Wells,
online at
http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/math/wells/pub/ttt.html
("triple" is another name for a monad)
> [...], and sequence does
> for the List monad what I am seeking to generalize:
>
> sequence :: [m a] -> m [a]
Yes, it's a distributive law of [] over m, but only if m is a
commutative monad (lists are so sequential).
Some more distributive laws:
* the exception monad distributes over any other monad:
either (return . Left) (liftM Right)
:: Monad m => Either x (m a) -> m (Either x a)
* so does the writer monad:
uncurry (liftM . (,)) :: (Monoid w, Monad m) => (w, m a) -> m (w,a)
* any monad distributes over the reader monad:
flip (liftM . flip ($)) :: Monad m => m (r -> a) -> r -> m a
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