Thread

Effect 4.0

87 points · 70 comments · stevefan1999

claude-ai · 1790881865 · focus · HN ↗
Three clicks, no info what effect 4.0 is, except that it's AI-ready, safe, good, and re-built from the ground up. No idea what it actually is.
1. vantassell · 1790892944 · focus · HN ↗
  I had the same thought, until I realized the posted link is for their 4.0 release rather than their homepage.
  Their main page makes the product pretty clear.
  <a href="https://effect.website" rel="nofollow">https://effect.website
  1. SwellJoe · 1790894984 · focus · HN ↗
    Does it, though?
    I can't parse this into meaning anything:
    "Reliable TypeScript for the AI era
    Build production-ready systems your team can ship, customers can depend on, and AI agents can work with."
    OK, it's written in TypeScript, I guess. Is it a library? What does it do?
    notpushkin · 1790943920 · focus · HN ↗
    I’ve had to click around a bit and I think this is a better summary: <a href="https://effect.website/docs/v4/getting-started/why-effect#the-effect-pattern" rel="nofollow">https://effect.website/docs/v4/getting-started/why-effect#th...
    import { Effect } from "effect" const divide = (a: number, b: number): Effect.Effect<number, Error, never> => b === 0 ? Effect.fail(new Error("Cannot divide by zero")) : Effect.succeed(a / b) Effect.runSync(divide(4, 2)) // => 2
    This seems to be similar in spirit to railway oriented programming (see e.g. <a href="https://returns.readthedocs.io/en/latest/pages/railway.html" rel="nofollow">https://returns.readthedocs.io/en/latest/pages/railway.html), but I’m not 100% confident here.
    exceptione · 1790962110 · focus · HN ↗
    Monad Maybe?
    notpushkin · 1790998762 · focus · HN ↗
    Kinda like that, but with the error branch having a value too. I think Result is the common name for this monad:
    type Result e v = Ok v | Err e
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Result_type" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Result_type
  2. pohl · 1790895429 · focus · HN ↗
    Still can’t tell if it’s a language, library or framework
    itishappy · 1790896952 · focus · HN ↗
    Have you tried reading the big bold text at the top of the page?
    > Reliable TypeScript for the AI era
    It is a library.
    aand16 · 1790902571 · focus · HN ↗
    You forgot the /s
    oliwarner · 1790922018 · focus · HN ↗
    I'm with the sibling. A library for what? UI, backend, graphing, visual effects? What does this replace?
    hexasquid · 1790928224 · focus · HN ↗
    "typed error handling, structured concurrency, resource safety, and observability, all from one composable core"
    oliwarner · 1790955720 · focus · HN ↗
    Yes, I read that and left scratching my head. Does it also encabulate?
    Really reminded me of this classic pitch (and yes I know it's not the original turbo encabulator).
    > More over, whenever fluorescent score motion is required it may also be employed in conjunction with a drawn reciprocation Dingle arm to reduce sinusoidal depleneration. The Retro Encabulator has now reached a high level of development and it's being successfully used in the operation of Millford Trunions. It's available soon wherever Rockwell Automation products are sold.
    itishappy · 1790982098 · focus · HN ↗
    Not understanding something is different from it having no meaning.
    oliwarner · 1791034793 · focus · HN ↗
    Absolutely, but there's so little context offered to derive actual meaning. If you already know, it's probably a lot easier.
    And if multiple people are wondering what something fundamentally is, perhaps it's the pitch, not the people.
    itishappy · 1790981948 · focus · HN ↗
    A library for effects. Algebraic effects, to be more precise.
    To be fair "algebraic effects" is part of my priors. If you don't know what that is those specific words won't help you, but the examples should!
    Incipient · 1790936209 · focus · HN ↗
    >incredibly simple to build the API and a background worker process with Effect. I get logging, telemetry, error handling, concurrency, API doc generation, and more for free!
    But that can't be a library? Must be a framework? (eg more batteries included)
    nateb2022 · 1790950723 · focus · HN ↗
    > (eg more batteries included)
    That's not the definition of a framework.
    You call a library. A framework calls you.
  3. airstrike · 1790896155 · focus · HN ↗
    [dead]

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