I've found it easiest to understand monads as "the theoretical basis behind what a lot of languages think of as features". The purpose of understanding monads feels to me as an exercise in returning to first principles.
Naturally, this has the usual consequence of first principles: a lot of things that seem obvious are no longer Just There for you to Take For Granted.
That said, I'm not really prepared to say I understand monads. :P
Naturally, this has the usual consequence of first principles: a lot of things that seem obvious are no longer Just There for you to Take For Granted.
That said, I'm not really prepared to say I understand monads. :P