Grafting Functional Support on Top of an Imperative Language

[Bill Baxter]

Jeff Nowakowski wrote:
> Bill Baxter wrote:
>>
>> Seriously why on earth are they called 'monads'?
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monads_in_functional_programming
> 
> "The name monad derives from category theory, a branch of mathematics 
> that describes patterns applicable to many mathematical fields. (As a 
> minor terminological mismatch, the term "monad" in functional 
> programming contexts is usually used with a meaning corresponding to 
> that of the term "strong monad" in category theory, a specific kind of 
> category theoretical monad.[citation needed])"

Hmm, comes close, but doesn't really explain it.  So the reason they are 
called monads is because they are like "strong monads" from category 
theory.  So why are they called "strong monads" in category theory?

Anyway, thanks for trying to help despite my laziness.  :-)

--bb