+\begin{code}
+-- | Forces its argument to be evaluated when the resultant 'IO' action
+-- is executed. It can be used to order evaluation with respect to
+-- other 'IO' operations; its semantics are given by
+--
+-- > evaluate x `seq` y ==> y
+-- > evaluate x `catch` f ==> (return $! x) `catch` f
+-- > evaluate x >>= f ==> (return $! x) >>= f
+--
+-- /Note:/ the first equation implies that @(evaluate x)@ is /not/ the
+-- same as @(return $! x)@. A correct definition is
+--
+-- > evaluate x = (return $! x) >>= return
+--
+evaluate :: a -> IO a
+evaluate a = IO $ \s -> case a `seq` () of () -> (# s, a #)
+ -- NB. can't write
+ -- a `seq` (# s, a #)
+ -- because we can't have an unboxed tuple as a function argument
+\end{code}