Monadic version of functions for containers (adjustM, updateWithKeyM, etc)

[Ian Lynagh]

On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 02:23:58PM -0400, Johan Tibell wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 9:57 AM, Ian Lynagh <igloo at earth.li> wrote:
> > I don't understand why the number of functions is such an issue. To me,
> > ease of use is more important.
> 
> But more functions hurts ease of use!

But we're not really talking about adding another 150 functions; we're
talking about adding 1 additional concept (monadic functions). If you
know about the {map, filter, ...} concept and the *M concept then you
already understand {mapM, filterM, ...}. Likewise *WithKey.

As someone else said, it would be nice if the documentation grouped the
functions by their "root" (e.g. all the filter* functions together.

> An API gets harder to grasp the more functions it has and knowing
> which function to use gets harder when the number of functions
> increases.

I think the code is easier to read and maintain if it isn't full of
const's, \_'s, etc.

I'm not convinced it's harder for an expert to write with, and I think a
beginner will generally prefer having the functionality they need
directly available, rather than having to compose functions together.

> OO map data type get away with about 10-15 functions, we have 150!

I'd need to see a comparison to comment.

> I've written about this topic
> before on haskell-cafe. That post contains a somewhat more thorough
> arguments for not adding too many functions to APIs. Let me know if
> you can't find it.

A link would be useful.


Thanks
Ian