katharos 1.3.0

A functional programming library for Python that provides algebraic abstractions like Semigroups, Monoids, Functors, Applicatives, and Monads, along with immutable data structures to enable composable, type-safe, and side-effect-free code.

Katharos

A functional programming library for Python. Katharos brings algebraic abstractions — Functor, Applicative, Monad, Semigroup, Monoid — together with concrete types like Maybe, Result, ImmutableList, and IO, so you can model effects, errors, and data transformations as composable, type-safe pipelines.

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Installation

pip install katharos

Or using uv

uv add katharos

What it looks like

Before — scattered None checks and exception handling:

user = find_user(user_id)
if user is None:
    return None
account = find_account(user)
if account is None:
    return None
return account.discount

After — do-notation that short-circuits cleanly on Nothing:

from katharos.types import Maybe
from katharos.syntax_sugar import do, DoBlock

@do(Maybe)
def lookup_discount(user_id: int) -> DoBlock[Maybe, float]:
    user    = yield find_user(user_id)
    account = yield find_account(user)
    return account.discount   # Just(0.15) or Nothing()

Before — nested try/except to propagate errors:

def process(raw: str) -> int:
    try:
        n = parse_int(raw)
    except ValueError as e:
        raise RuntimeError("bad input") from e
    try:
        return validate_positive(n)
    except ValueError as e:
        raise RuntimeError("bad value") from e

After — errors as values, chained with |:

from katharos.types import Result

def process(raw: str) -> Result[Exception, int]:
    return parse_int(raw) | validate_positive   # Failure short-circuits automatically

More examples

Handle optional values without None checks:

from katharos.types import Maybe

result = Maybe[int].Just(5) | (lambda x: Maybe[int].Just(x * 2))  # Just(10)
nothing = Maybe[int].Nothing() | (lambda x: Maybe[int].Just(x * 2))  # Nothing()

Model errors as values instead of exceptions:

from katharos.types import Result

def parse_int(s: str) -> Result[ValueError, int]:
    try:
        return Result.Success(int(s))
    except ValueError as e:
        return Result.Failure(e)

parse_int("42").fmap(lambda n: n * 2) # Success(84)
parse_int("??").fmap(lambda n: n * 2)  # Failure(...)

Combine values with the Semigroup operator:

from katharos.types import ImmutableList

ImmutableList([1, 2]) @ ImmutableList([3, 4])  # ImmutableList([1, 2, 3, 4])

Do-notation

do-notation works with any monad — Maybe, Result, IO, ImmutableList and your custom monads. Each yield unwraps the monadic value:

from katharos.syntax_sugar import do, DoBlock
from katharos.types import Result

def parse_positive(x: int) -> Result[ValueError, int]:
    return Result.Success(x) if x > 0 else Result.Failure(ValueError(f"{x} is not positive"))

# Clean, imperative-style monadic code
@do(Result)
def do_block() -> DoBlock[Result, int]:
    x: int = yield parse_positive(5)
    y: int = yield parse_positive(3)
    return x + y

print(do_block())  # Success(8)

Documentation

Full tutorials, how-to guides, API reference, and explanations of the mathematical foundations are at katharos.readthedocs.io.

License

MIT