# Category Theory for Programming

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.01259 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.01259/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 2 Sep 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [CatCode: A Comprehensive Evaluation Framework for LLMs On the Mixture of Code and Text](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.01784/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In these lecture notes, we give a brief introduction to some elements of category theory. The choice of topics is guided by applications to functional programming. Firstly, we study initial algebras, which provide a mathematical characterization of datatypes and recursive functions on them. Secondly, we study monads, which give a mathematical framework for effects in functional languages. The notes include many problems and solutions.