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Monads in Erlang

From: "andrew cooke" <andrew@...>

Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:12:50 -0400 (CLT)

The following allows me to write code like this:

add(Name, Sources, Graph) ->
    UniqueSources = usort(Sources),
    seq_cons([curry_2(fun assert_present/2, delete(Name, UniqueSources)),
              curry_2(fun add_if_necessary/2, Name),
              curry_3(fun add_connections/3, Name, UniqueSources)],
             Graph).

If you're a regular Erlang user you're probably crying or laughing after
reading that, but hey, it's a free world :o)

The idea is that the list of arguments to seq_cons are actions which are
invoked within a monad.  Part of the monad is the Graph value, which
maintains the current description of a graph, and which is threaded
through each of the actions.  The rest of the monad is a list, which
accumulates the output generated by those actions.  The return type is
{List, Graph}.

Anyway, the library follows.

Andrew



% Before everything else - please forgive me if the use of monads is
% incorrect, or strained, here.

% Erlang being a pure functional language (my) code is often busy
% carrying a little ball of state around from function to function.
% It soon becomes natural to use this as the last argument(s) to
% functions and to write "sequencers" that take curried functions that
% are applied, in sequence, to the state.

% (Currying is defined in a utility library.  For example,
% curry_2(Fun) -> fun(A) -> fun(B) -> Fun(A, B) end end.)

% This convention requires that each function return the state, of
% course.

% In addition it is often conventient for a function to be able to
% either abort a sequence or skip an action.  Such functions could
% return fail (the state is discarded) or skip (the previous state is
% re-used).

% Here's an example from some code where the ball of state is a graph:

% seq([],         Acc, Graph) -> {Acc, Graph};
% seq([Fun|Funs], Acc, Graph) ->
%     case Fun(Graph) of
%         fail -> fail;
%         skip -> seq(Funs, Acc, Graph);
%         {Results, Graph2} -> seq(Funs, Results ++ Acc, Graph2)
%     end.
% seq(Funs, Graph) -> seq(Funs, [], Graph).

% In this code actions (functions) return {List, Graph} and the lists
% are appended.

% Now it seems to me that this is rather like a monad (may even, in
% some cases, *be* a monad) and that we can generalise the sequencing
% functions that are used.

% There's a subtlety here - as far as I can see, the "monad" is the
% tuple {Acc, Graph}, not the Graph alone.

% What is Acc and how does it fit into our idea of a Monad?  Within
% the sequencing there are two parallel processes at work.  Some of
% the state is accumulated using append, the rest is simply chained.
% This "composite Monad" pattern is fairly common - it seems to occur
% when we are constructing some "result" in the presence of a more
% persistent "kernel" of state.

% But either of the two "halves" of this "composite monad" can be
% unused, depending on the particular case.  So a practical library
% will have a variety of sequencing functions (I guess there will be
% other, more complex cases, but these seem sufficiently general to
% cover a wide range of problems).

% If the graph example above seems contrived, consider this code from
% a parser combinator library.  Again we have state in two pieces - a
% Stream which we consume and which is chained through various
% Parsers, and a result which is typically the recognised string or a
% list of tokens and which is accumulated separately.

% foldl(_,   Acc, [],               Stream) -> {match, Acc, Stream};
% foldl(Fun, Acc, [Parser|Parsers], Stream) ->
%     case Parser(Stream) of
%         {match, Result, Stream2} ->
%             foldl(Fun, Fun(Result, Acc), Parsers, Stream2);
%         {empty, Stream2} ->
%             foldl(Fun, Acc, Parsers, Stream2);
%         _ -> fail
%     end.

% (for some obscure reason the Acc is not in the penultimate parameter
% position and the function is not really faithful to its name - it's
% a real example, from dirty code, before I had unified everything
% with this library).

% In this parser example the tagged tuple "empty" extends "skip"
% described above by returning a new Stream.  This approach is
% slightly more general and we adopt it below.  In other words,
% "empty" applies only to the accumulation component in the monad (the
% skip behaviour can be achieved by returning empty with the chained
% component unaltered).

% The parser example above will not be able to use this library
% directly because it does not follow the conventions used here - the
% "match" token is separate from the result.  To convert to use this
% library it should either be grouped with result in a tuple, or
% simply dropped.

% The fail and empty results are an ad-hoc extension to whatever type
% is returned by the actions we are executing within the monad.  This
% is trivial to do in an untyped language, but I imagine a little goes
% a long way.  It's probably worth commenting that they seem similar
% to exception and the ordering (>>) operators (the bind operator
% (>>=) is implemented by the sequencing functions here).

% I hope that makes sense.  Here goes...


-module(monad).

% Functions named with trailing underscores take curried functions

-export([seq/2, seq/3, seq_/3, seq/4]).
-export([seq_cons/2, rseq_cons/2, seq_app/2, rseq_app/2]).
-export([repeat/3, repeat_/3, repeat/4]).
-export([map/3, map_acc/4, map_/3, map_acc_/4, map/2, map_acc/3]).
-export([foldl/4, foldl_/4, foldl/3, foldr/4, foldr_/4, foldr/3]).
-export([lift/3, lift/1, drop/3, drop/1]).

% Simple sequencing of functions that take and return a monad.

seq([], Monad) -> Monad;
seq([Fun|Funs], Monad) ->
    case Fun(Monad) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Monad2} -> seq(Funs, Monad2);
        Monad2 -> seq(Funs, Monad2)
    end.


% Sequencing with two arguments - a simple composite monad where both
% components are chained (if the functions take the two in a tuple
% then you can just use seq)

seq([], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
seq([Fun|Funs], Result, Kernel) ->
    case Fun(Result, Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> seq(Funs, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> seq(Funs, Result2, Kernel2)
    end.

% and for curried functions

seq_([], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
seq_([Fun|Funs], Result, Kernel) ->
    case (Fun(Result))(Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> seq_(Funs, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> seq_(Funs, Result2, Kernel2)
    end.


% Alternatively, we may specify a separate function for processing the
% result component

seq(_Join, [], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
seq(Join, [Fun|Funs], Result, Kernel) ->
    case Fun(Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> seq(Join, Funs, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} ->
            case Join(Result2, Result) of
                fail -> fail;
                skip -> seq(Join, Funs, Result, Kernel);
                Result3 -> seq(Join, Funs, Result3, Kernel2)
            end
    end.


% Common uses of the seq functions cons or append lists

seq_cons(Funs, Kernel) -> seq(fun util:cons/2, Funs, [], Kernel).
rseq_cons(Funs, Kernel) ->
    (lift(fun lists:reverse/1))(seq_cons(Funs, Kernel)).

seq_app(Funs, Kernel) -> seq(fun lists:append/2, Funs, [], Kernel).
rseq_app(Funs, Kernel) ->
    (lift(fun lists:reverse/1))(seq_app(Funs, Kernel)).


% Similar to sequencing, we can repeatedly evaluate the same action
% until fail/empty.

repeat(Fun, Result, Kernel) ->
    case Fun(Result, Kernel) of
        fail -> {Result, Kernel};
        {empty, Kernel2} -> repeat(Fun, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> repeat(Fun, Result2, Kernel2)
    end.

repeat_(Fun, Result, Kernel) ->
    case ((Fun(Result))(Kernel)) of
        fail -> {Result, Kernel};
        {empty, Kernel2} -> repeat(Fun, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> repeat(Fun, Result2, Kernel2)
    end.

% And with a separate function for processing the result component.
% We need to be careful to fully promote join (on both arguments)
% since Result could be empty when called, I guess.

repeat(Join, Fun, Result, Kernel) ->
    case {Result, Fun(Kernel)} of
        {_,     fail} -> {Result, Kernel};
        {_,     {empty, Kernel2}} -> repeat(Join, Fun, Result, Kernel2);
        {empty, {Result2, Kernel2}} -> repeat(Join, Fun, Result2, Kernel2);
        {_,     {Result2, Kernel2}} ->
            case Join(Result2, Result) of
                fail -> {Result, Kernel};
                skip -> repeat(Join, Fun, Result, Kernel);
                Result3 -> repeat(Join, Fun, Result3, Kernel2)
            end
    end.


% Mapping in the presence of the monad.

% Here you can think of the accumulator as either "just an
% accumulating list" or as a separate part of a larger monad that also
% includes a "kernel", as above (a list is a monad, so what we have
% here is a composite monad - it's all consistent in a hand-waving
% way).

map_acc(_Fun, [], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
map_acc(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result, Kernel) ->
    case Fun(Head, Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> map_acc(Fun, Tail, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> map_acc(Fun, Tail, [Result2|Result], Kernel2)
    end.

map(Fun, List, Kernel) ->
    case map_acc(Fun, List, [], Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> {empty, Kernel2};
        {List2, Kernel2} -> {lists:reverse(List2), Kernel2}
    end.

% and for curried functions

map_acc_(_Fun, [], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
map_acc_(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result, Kernel) ->
    case (Fun(Head))(Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> map_acc_(Fun, Tail, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> map_acc_(Fun, Tail, [Result2|Result], Kernel2)
    end.

map_(Fun, List, Kernel) ->
    case map_acc_(Fun, List, [], Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> {empty, Kernel2};
        {List2, Kernel2} -> {lists:reverse(List2), Kernel2}
    end.


% Folding can be defined too.

foldl(_Fun, [], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
foldl(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result, Kernel) ->
    case Fun(Head, Result, Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> foldl(Fun, Tail, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> foldl(Fun, Tail, Result2, Kernel2)
    end.

foldl_(_Fun, [], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
foldl_(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result, Kernel) ->
    case ((Fun(Head))(Result))(Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {empty, Kernel2} -> foldl_(Fun, Tail, Result, Kernel2);
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> foldl_(Fun, Tail, Result2, Kernel2)
    end.

% I can't find a sensible meaning for empty/skip here

foldr(_Fun, [], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
foldr(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result, Kernel) ->
    case foldr(Fun, Tail, Result, Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> Fun(Head, Result2, Kernel2)
    end.

foldr_(_Fun, [], Result, Kernel) -> {Result, Kernel};
foldr_(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result, Kernel) ->
    case foldr(Fun, Tail, Result, Kernel) of
        fail -> fail;
        {Result2, Kernel2} -> ((Fun(Head))(Result2))(Kernel2)
    end.


% As mentioned in the introduction, we can also drop the chained part
% of the state completely.  In that case we have the list monad, with
% the fail and empty extensions.

% Without a chained component we revert back to skip rather than empty.

map_acc(_Fun, [], Result) -> Result;
map_acc(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result) ->
    case Fun(Head) of
        fail -> fail;
        skip -> map_acc(Fun, Tail, Result);
        Other -> map_acc(Fun, Tail, [Other|Result])
    end.

map(Fun, List) ->
    case map_acc(Fun, List, []) of
        fail -> fail;
        skip -> skip;
        List2 -> lists:reverse(List2)
    end.

foldl(_Fun, [], Result) -> Result;
foldl(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result) ->
    case Fun(Head, Result) of
        fail -> fail;
        skip -> foldl(Fun, Tail, Result);
        Other -> foldl(Fun, Tail, [Other|Result])
    end.

% Again, I can't find a sensible meaning for empty/skip here

foldr(_Fun, [], Result) -> Result;
foldr(Fun, [Head|Tail], Result) ->
    case foldr(Fun, Tail, Result) of
        fail -> fail;
        Other -> Fun(Head, Other)
    end.


% Sometimes you may want to lift functions to work inside the monad even
% though they don't use the kernel.

lift(Fun, Empty, Fail) ->
    fun(Tuple) ->
            case Tuple of
                fail -> Fail;
                {empty, Kernel} -> {Empty, Kernel};
                {Result, Kernel} -> {Fun(Result), Kernel}
            end
    end.
lift(Fun) -> lift(Fun, empty, fail).

drop(_Empty, Fail, fail) -> Fail;
drop(Empty, _Fail, {empty, _Kernel}) -> Empty;
drop(_Empty, _Fail, {Result, _Kernel}) -> Result.
drop(Value) -> drop(empty, fail, Value).

Monad library

From: Alexei Krasnopolski <krasnop@...>

Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:04:44 -0400

Hello Andrew,

I'd like to use your Monad module in my open source project
(https://sourceforge.net/projects/erlmysql) that is published under
Apache License, Version 2.0 .
Do you have any condition, restriction or license for the library use
(possible modification)?

-- 
Regards,
*Alexei Krasnopolski*
Sr. Software Developer (Java, Scala, Erlang)
http://krasnopolski.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Monad library

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2012 18:27:28 -0400

Hi,

You can certainly use it - consider it in the public domain for any use at
all.

However, looking at it, I don't think it is a monad.  It doesn't seem to
support combining several monads into one (which is one of the "monad laws"
that a monad must implement).

But if it's useful anyway, sure, go ahead.

Thanks for asking,
Andrew

PS I modified your email as posted to the blog to remove your phone numbers
(when you reply to the "Comment on this post" link the email is automatically
included in the page; the code automatically hides email addresses but isn't
smart enough to recognise phone numbres so I did it by hand).

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