[Haskell-cafe] class Runnable vs fromJust (was Re: haskell idiom for reversible computations)

[S. Alexander Jacobson]

I think I just figured it out.  Answering my own
question and asking another:

The property we want to fulfill is:

 prop_reverse forward reverse thing = roundtrip thing == thing
  where roundtrip = reverse . forward

Since a function is a value that produces a
computation (when evaluated) and a monad is a
computation that (when executed) produces a value,
we can assert that:

   monads are the dual of functions
   execution is the dual of evaluation

So if monad "return" takes a value and brings it
into the computation, we need a dual, e.g. "run",
that takes a computation and produces a value.
So we have our reverse monads also be instances
of:

   class Runnable m a where
     run::m a -> a

   --example instance
   instance Runnable (Maybe a) where
     run = fromJust

Now we can update the above property to be:

   prop_reverse forward reverse thing = roundtrip thing == thing
     where roundtrip = run . reverse . return . forward

So if we have functions f and g, with reverse
monads f' and g' respectively the following
properties should hold:

    prop_reverse f f'
    prop_reverse g g'

And, here is the payoff!!!!

    prop_reverse (f . g) (f' >>= g')

So you can use these two very readable notations
to e.g. render and parse data structures e.g.

    renderReq (Request m u v h b) =
  	(render m . render u . render v . render h . render b)
    parseReq text =
	(m <- parse; u <- parse; v <- parse; h<-parse; b <- parse' contentLength)

I'm a beginner (without much formal math training), so
please correct if I am mistaken.  But, assuming
the above is correct, my updated question is in
which library is cannonical equivalent of
Runnable.  I would have assumed it is in the Monad
library, but nothing there looks like it.  Instead
all I can find are special purpose things like
fromJust and even uglier stuff for Either.

-Alex-

_________________________________________________________________
S. Alexander Jacobson                  mailto:me at alexjacobson.com
tel:917-770-6565                       http://alexjacobson.com