16 Jan
2009
16 Jan
'09
5:12 p.m.
Andrew Coppin wrote:
Duncan Coutts wrote:
[Monoids are] used quite a lot in Cabal. Package databases are monoids. Configuration files are monoids. Command line flags and sets of command line flags are monoids. Package build information is a monoid.
OK, well then my next question would be "in what way is defining configuration files as a monoid superior to, uh, not defining them as a monoid?" What does it allow you to do that you couldn't otherwise? I'm not seeing any obvious advantage, but you presumably did this for a reason...
It makes those things generically combinable. Anton