Categorical semantics for arrows

Abstract

Abstract Arrows are an extension of the well-established notion of a monad in functional-programming languages. This paper presents several examples and constructions and develops denotational semantics of arrows as monoids in categories of bifunctors C op × C → C . Observing similarities to monads – which are monoids in categories of endofunctors C → C – it then considers Eilenberg–Moore and Kleisli constructions for arrows. The latter yields Freyd categories, mathematically formulating the folklore claim ‘Arrows are Freyd categories.’