So this is one example of a Monad. Go through the same process with different "datastructures" to see the power of it. First try with a "Maybe" monad, and then a "State" monad. The generalization of that idea is the monad.
The power comes not from the complexity, but from the realization that this simple idea applied in alternate contexts (ie on different datastructures) allows many powerfull solutions to problems.
The idea is fundamentally simple - applying that same simple idea in different contexts provides the value. It is a simple idea, it's just impressive how many different contexts it works in to solve problems. Problem domains that we normally would have felt have nothing in common.
So this is one example of a Monad. Go through the same process with different "datastructures" to see the power of it. First try with a "Maybe" monad, and then a "State" monad. The generalization of that idea is the monad.
The power comes not from the complexity, but from the realization that this simple idea applied in alternate contexts (ie on different datastructures) allows many powerfull solutions to problems.
The idea is fundamentally simple - applying that same simple idea in different contexts provides the value. It is a simple idea, it's just impressive how many different contexts it works in to solve problems. Problem domains that we normally would have felt have nothing in common.