Re:Monoids, Functors, Applicatives, and Monads: Main Ideas
by klibertp on Monday January 05, 2015 @05:05PM
(#8841524)
Ok, so I was rather rude unnecessarily, sorry about that. I agree with what you wrote about words:
> words can and do have uses in different contexts and you don't get to choose one and make it the exclusive use of the word because you like it more.
it's just that I think the same applies to concepts. You shouldn't be able to "own" the concept and to insist that it should be called as you want in every context. I see comments and posts about how "X or Y is just a monad!" to be exactly this: people trying to "own" a concept.
Just as both musicians, mathematicians and programmers can all use a single word for different things, different programmers should be able to use the same concept without using the same word for it.
In short (directed to random commenters on the Internet, no to you personally): stop correcting me when I say "computation expression builder", don't say that what I "really mean" is a monad. It's not, what I "really mean" is an abstract concept and we both know its properties, and you have no right to oppress me because I chose different word for it.
> words can and do have uses in different contexts and you don't get to choose one and make it the exclusive use of the word because you like it more.
it's just that I think the same applies to concepts. You shouldn't be able to "own" the concept and to insist that it should be called as you want in every context. I see comments and posts about how "X or Y is just a monad!" to be exactly this: people trying to "own" a concept.
Just as both musicians, mathematicians and programmers can all use a single word for different things, different programmers should be able to use the same concept without using the same word for it.
In short (directed to random commenters on the Internet, no to you personally): stop correcting me when I say "computation expression builder", don't say that what I "really mean" is a monad. It's not, what I "really mean" is an abstract concept and we both know its properties, and you have no right to oppress me because I chose different word for it.