In functional programming, monads are a way to build computer programs by joining simple components in robust ways. A monad encapsulates values of a particular data type, creating a new type associated with a specific computation; this computation follows a set of predicates called monad laws. The monad represents computations with a sequential structure: a monad defines what it means to chain operations together. This allows the programmer to build pipelines that process data in a series of steps (i.e. a series of actions applied to the data), in which each action is decorated with the additional processing rules provided by the monad. A monad is defined by a return operator that creates values, and a bind operator used to link the actions in the pipeline.