# Using foldl to add numbers, while validating that they are nonnegative

I have a function that will calculate the sum of a list of integer, however if any of the number is negative, it will should an error instead (not throwing exception).

The following is a working Haskell code (Glasgow Haskell Compiler, Version 7.10.3):

addAll :: [Int] -> Either String Int
where
safeAdd :: Either String Int -> Int -> Either String Int
safeAdd = (\acc next -> case acc of
Left s  -> Left s
Right n -> if next < 0
then Left (show next ++ " is not positive")
else Right (n + next))


Examples output of the function:

addAll [1,2,3]  -- Right 6
addAll [-1,2,3] -- Left "-1 is not positive"


Although the code works, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it, because the recursion keeps going until the last element even though errors are encountered early. Not only that, it feels a little more complicated than it should be.

After reading some SO posts such as this one, I think that the code above can be further simplified using functions like foldM or even applicative <\$>.

But, I'm just not sure how to use those functions, so please do show me a way to simplify the code above.

import Data.Foldable