Chris Eidhof was the first to explain the real difficulty with monads to me: When you finally understand them, you lose the ability to remember what it was not to understand them. This makes it very difficult to explain them to others.

That is the task I'm attempting in the new chapter on flatMap(). I already see that next week I will be modifying and adding to this chapter - but it is my attempt to show you both why you want to learn flatMap() and how it works.

Chapter 6 - at least the initial take - is now available in my Functional Programming book.

If you own the book, the chapter 6 update is available for free on Gumroad.

If not, I'd love to have you join the fun by buying the book at A Functional Programming Kickstart. And I'm still offering a discount if you need one.

I hope after reading this chapter you'll join me on the other side of the monad chasm.