[Haskell-beginners] [Haskell-cafe] select :: [(Float, a)] -> a -- Weighted stochastic selection - help?

[C.M.Brown]

Nicolas,
> OK, let's restrict the word side-effect to printing on the screen as the only
> side-effect possible.
>
> Some recalls:
>
> Example:
>
>   putStrLn is a side-effecting function expecting *2* arguments,
>   the first one is the string to print, and the second one is the world state.
>   So if you could give to arguments to putStrLn you could make a side-effect,
>   however you don't have a value of type RealWorld.
>
>   Is this clear?

Yes! Thanks for giving such a clear and insightful explanation. I guess I
forgot about the IO being an abstraction for something else. So can I
clarify that it's the runtime system that triggers the side-effect, and
not Haskell?

I have one last question that is still confusing me: what if I have a
function that reads something from a file, say, and does
something depending on that input - would that be a side-effect?

Consider something modifying a file outside of the Haskell world that
changes a program's behaviour. Am I right in thinking that the side-effect
happens at runtime - but in Haskell, the funtion is still pure.

I feel, also, that as a reasonably experienced Haskell user, I am getting
confused with what should be fundamental Haskell concepts. Perhaps these
concepts should be made much clearer to beginners in the first instance.

Thanks!
Chris.