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October 28, 2026

MTL-style circuit simulator

Today we learn a production Haskell pattern for preventing the wrong kinds of side effects.

MTL-style circuit simulator

After the first attempt at making a very side-effectful circuit simulator, and then an ambitious attempt at making it pure, I was reminded of a middle ground, using a pattern common in production Haskell code. It is called MTL-style effects.

Full article (2–6 minute read): MTL-style circuit simulator

Flashcard of the week

Physics time!

In an inelastic collision, is momentum or kinetic energy conserved?

Every now and then I get a sense that I should understand basic physics better, so I do a little reading and add a few flashcards, then stop reading. But this is one of those fundamental-knowledge questions I think are very valuable.

Momentum is always conserved (but when a collision is inelastic, kinetic energy is lost to deformation, heat, etc.)

Knowing that momentum is always conserved is easy and important, but remembering that when asked a question with difficult words like "inelastic collision" and "kinetic energy" is another thing!

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