(aka "Algebraic JavaScript Specification")
This project specifies interoperability of common algebraic structures:
An algebra is a set of values, a set of operators that it is closed under and some laws it must obey.
Each Fantasy Land algebra is a separate specification. An algebra may have dependencies on other algebras which must be implemented. An algebra may also state other algebra methods which do not need to be implemented and how they can be derived from new methods.
- "value" is any JavaScript value, including any which have the structures defined below.
- "equivalent" is an appropriate definition of equivalence for the given value.
The definition should ensure that the two values can be safely swapped out in a program that respects abstractions. For example:
- Two lists are equivalent if they are equivalent at all indices.
- Two plain old JavaScript objects, interpreted as dictionaries, are equivalent when they are equivalent for all keys.
- Two promises are equivalent when they yield equivalent values.
- Two functions are equivalent if they yield equivalent outputs for equivalent inputs.
a.equals(a) === true
(reflexivity)a.equals(b) === b.equals(a)
(symmetry)- If
a.equals(b)
andb.equals(c)
, thena.equals(c)
(transitivity)
A value which has a Setoid must provide an equals
method. The
equals
method takes one argument:
a.equals(b)
-
b
must be a value of the same Setoid- If
b
is not the same Setoid, behaviour ofequals
is unspecified (returningfalse
is recommended).
- If
-
equals
must return a boolean (true
orfalse
).
a.concat(b).concat(c)
is equivalent toa.concat(b.concat(c))
(associativity)
A value which has a Semigroup must provide a concat
method. The
concat
method takes one argument:
s.concat(b)
-
b
must be a value of the same Semigroup- If
b
is not the same semigroup, behaviour ofconcat
is unspecified.
- If
-
concat
must return a value of the same Semigroup.
A value that implements the Monoid specification must also implement the Semigroup specification.
m.concat(m.empty())
is equivalent tom
(right identity)m.empty().concat(m)
is equivalent tom
(left identity)
A value which has a Monoid must provide an empty
method on itself or
its constructor
object. The empty
method takes no arguments:
m.empty()
m.constructor.empty()
empty
must return a value of the same Monoid
u.map(a => a)
is equivalent tou
(identity)u.map(x => f(g(x)))
is equivalent tou.map(g).map(f)
(composition)
A value which has a Functor must provide a map
method. The map
method takes one argument:
u.map(f)
-
f
must be a function,- If
f
is not a function, the behaviour ofmap
is unspecified. f
can return any value.
- If
-
map
must return a value of the same Functor
A value that implements the Apply specification must also implement the Functor specification.
a.map(f => g => x => f(g(x))).ap(u).ap(v)
is equivalent toa.ap(u.ap(v))
(composition)
A value which has an Apply must provide an ap
method. The ap
method takes one argument:
a.ap(b)
-
a
must be an Apply of a function,- If
a
does not represent a function, the behaviour ofap
is unspecified.
- If
-
b
must be an Apply of any value -
ap
must apply the function in Applya
to the value in Applyb
A value that implements the Applicative specification must also implement the Apply specification.
A value which satisfies the specification of an Applicative does not need to implement:
- Functor's
map
; derivable asfunction(f) { return this.of(f).ap(this); }
a.of(x => x).ap(v)
is equivalent tov
(identity)a.of(f).ap(a.of(x))
is equivalent toa.of(f(x))
(homomorphism)u.ap(a.of(y))
is equivalent toa.of(f => f(y)).ap(u)
(interchange)
A value which has an Applicative must provide an of
method on itself
or its constructor
object. The of
method takes one argument:
a.of(b)
a.constructor.of(b)
-
of
must provide a value of the same Applicative- No parts of
b
should be checked
- No parts of
u.reduce
is equivalent tou.toArray().reduce
toArray
; derivable asfunction() { return this.reduce((acc, x) => acc.concat(x), []); }
A value which has a Foldable must provide a reduce
method. The reduce
method takes two arguments:
u.reduce(f, x)
-
f
must be a binary function- if
f
is not a function, the behaviour ofreduce
is unspecified. - The first argument to
f
must be the same type asx
. f
must return a value of the same type asx
- if
-
x
is the initial accumulator value for the reduction
A value that implements the Traversable specification must also implement the Functor specification.
-
t(u.sequence(f.of))
is equivalent tou.map(t).sequence(g.of)
wheret
is a natural transformation fromf
tog
(naturality) -
u.map(x => Id(x)).sequence(Id.of)
is equivalent toId.of
(identity) -
u.map(Compose).sequence(Compose.of)
is equivalent toCompose(u.sequence(f.of).map(x => x.sequence(g.of)))
(composition)
traverse
; derivable asfunction(f, of) { return this.map(f).sequence(of); }
A value which has a Traversable must provide a sequence
method. The sequence
method takes one argument:
u.sequence(of)
of
must return the Applicative thatu
contains.
A value that implements the Chain specification must also implement the Apply specification.
A value which satisfies the specification of a Chain does not need to implement:
- Apply's
ap
; derivable asfunction ap(m) { return this.chain(f => m.map(f)); }
m.chain(f).chain(g)
is equivalent tom.chain(x => f(x).chain(g))
(associativity)
A value which has a Chain must provide a chain
method. The chain
method takes one argument:
m.chain(f)
-
f
must be a function which returns a value- If
f
is not a function, the behaviour ofchain
is unspecified. f
must return a value of the same Chain
- If
-
chain
must return a value of the same Chain
A value that implements the Monad specification must also implement the Applicative and Chain specifications.
A value which satisfies the specification of a Monad does not need to implement:
- Apply's
ap
; derivable asfunction(m) { return this.chain(f => m.map(f)); }
- Functor's
map
; derivable asfunction(f) { var m = this; return m.chain(a => m.of(f(a)))}
m.of(a).chain(f)
is equivalent tof(a)
(left identity)m.chain(m.of)
is equivalent tom
(right identity)
w.extend(g).extend(f)
is equivalent tow.extend(_w => f(_w.extend(g)))
An Extend must provide an extend
method. The extend
method takes one argument:
w.extend(f)
-
f
must be a function which returns a value- If
f
is not a function, the behaviour ofextend
is unspecified. f
must return a value of typev
, for some variablev
contained inw
.
- If
-
extend
must return a value of the same Extend.
A value that implements the Comonad specification must also implement the Functor and Extend specifications.
w.extend(_w => _w.extract())
is equivalent tow
w.extend(f).extract()
is equivalent tof(w)
w.extend(f)
is equivalent tow.extend(x => x).map(f)
A value which has a Comonad must provide an extract
method on itself.
The extract
method takes no arguments:
c.extract()
extract
must return a value of typev
, for some variablev
contained inw
.v
must have the same type thatf
returns inextend
.
- If there's more than a single way to implement the methods and laws, the implementation should choose one and provide wrappers for other uses.
- It's discouraged to overload the specified methods. It can easily result in broken and buggy behaviour.
- It is recommended to throw an exception on unspecified behaviour.
- An
Id
container which implements all methods is provided inid.js
.