What is the Maybe type in Haskell and how does pattern matching work with it?

What is the Maybe type in Haskell?

The Maybe type in Haskell is used to represent values that may or may not exist. It can be either Just a value or Nothing.

How do I use pattern matching with the Maybe type?

You can use pattern matching to handle both cases of Maybe. For example:

case myValue of
    Just x  -> "Value is: " ++ show x
    Nothing -> "No value present"

Can you give me an example of using Maybe with a function?

Sure! Here's a simple function that uses Maybe:

safeDivide :: Int -> Int -> Maybe Int
safeDivide _ 0 = Nothing
safeDivide x y = Just (x `div` y)

What happens if I try to pattern match on a Nothing value?

If you try to pattern match on a Nothing value without handling it, it will result in a runtime error. Always ensure to cover both cases!