Since effects are powerful enough to implement generators and cooperative multitasking, it seems like it’s more than just exceptions? Calling some functions could task-switch and do arbitrary computation before returning at some arbitrary time later. It might be nice to know which function calls could do that.
I’m not a fan of how ‘await’ works in JavaScript because accidentally leaving it out causes subtle bugs. But the basic idea that some function calls are simple and return immediately and others are not makes sense.
Even regular sync functions in JavaScript can do lots of computations that take a long time. And others perform effects like starting a timer or manipulating the DOM. Should these be indicated with keywords too?
I agree that await is a nice hint in the code that something more substantial is happening, but ultimately it’s limited and quite opaque.
Great IDE support for algebraic effects would probably include inline hints to show effects.
In a language with an effect system, presumably modifying the DOM would be an effect.
Maybe some effects should have call sites annotated, like ‘async’, and others should not, like DOM manipulation? It seems like an API design issue. What do you want to call out for extra attention?
I’m not a fan of how ‘await’ works in JavaScript because accidentally leaving it out causes subtle bugs. But the basic idea that some function calls are simple and return immediately and others are not makes sense.