Jeremy Gibbonsjer_gib@functional.cafe
Jun 26, 2026, 6:18 PMSent off to the publisher today. At last! Still got the index, the solutions to exercises, and a proofread to go. But the end is in sight.
Replies
- Jeremy Gibbonsjer_gib@functional.cafeJun 27, 2026, 10:20 AM
RE: https://functional.cafe/@jer_gib/116817784747796292
Now also mentioned on my blog, with a link to a provisional table of contents: https://patternsinfp.wordpress.com/2026/06/27/progress-on-the-book/
Jun 26, 2026, 7:20 PM@jer_gib Where can I learn more about this book?
- Jeremy Gibbonsjer_gib@functional.cafeJun 26, 2026, 7:34 PM
@mjd Nowhere yet, I'm afraid, but soon to appear via Cambridge University Press.
Jun 28, 2026, 10:06 AM@jer_gib I like category theory as much as the next Haskeller, but I really can't fault anyone for thinking the applications sound underwhelming compared to all the theory from the rest of the book they'd have to learn first.
Is it a didactic choice to focus more on the theory, or do you think the theory itself is not developed enough to fully explain programs like the game snake, a sudoku solver, a text editor, a web server, etc.?
- Jeremy Gibbonsjer_gib@functional.cafeJun 28, 2026, 3:04 PM
@jaror These are excellent questions! To which I don't really have a good answer. I do think the theory is well enough developed for this kind of application. I think sudoku has been well covered, in particular by Richard Bird. I actually have no experience in writing things like web servers: I couldn't take that approach with confidence without a lot of preparation. Someone else will have to write the different book you have in mind.
- Jeremy Gibbonsjer_gib@functional.cafeJun 28, 2026, 3:04 PM
@jaror Let me be honest about the real motivation for the book. As I've given talks about it, I've been describing it as my "greatest hits album": reworked and updated material from some favourites among my own papers, plus a few "cover versions" of papers by others that I wish I had written myself.
- Jeremy Gibbonsjer_gib@functional.cafeJun 28, 2026, 3:04 PM
@jaror In particular, I promised myself No New Research. I tried to do that on my previous sabbatical, seven years ago, and got sidetracked by https://doi.org/10.1145/3236779. And on the sabbatical before that, another seven years earlier, and got sidetracked by https://doi.org/10.1145/2034773.2034777. I'm proud of both those papers, but they didn't get the book written!
chris martenschrisamaphone@hci.socialJun 28, 2026, 3:23 PM
Owen Lyncholynch@mathstodon.xyzJun 28, 2026, 4:49 PM@chrisamaphone @jer_gib @jaror This is making me think that people should retract papers from Springer and republish then with (AUTHOR's version) appended to the title.