[...]
> I wasn't necessarily proposing such a ragbag. But as Don Syme has pointed
> out, there are many perfectly natural and disciplined ways of using side
> effects within globally functional code.

I think we agree on the whole thing in fact: the problem is to get
the most readable and clearest program we can write.

> [...] I'm happy for
> people to avoid composition if that's what they want. However I don't like
> the idea of discouraging new programmers from using it even when it
> could be very helpful and natural.

You're absolutely right. The more natural the better.

Pierre Weis

INRIA, Projet Cristal, Pierre.Weis@inria.fr, http://cristal.inria.fr/~weis/