100% that's a big part of it (although there are others). Although if someone doesn't know haskell, then the above notation for functions getting the first ele

100% that's a big part of it (although there are others). Although if someone doesn't know haskell, then the above notation for functions getting the first element of a list is probably not of much value to them. Clearer would be: char head(List<char> x); char? saferHead(List<char> x); char safeHead(NonEmptyList<char> x);