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Inside Microsoft's New F# Language

Posted by michael on from the e-flat dept.

robyn217 writes "There's a new language being formed in the bowels of Microsoft. Recently I got word that the language F# (pronounced F Sharp) is nearing workable stages at Microsoft Research. So, I went in for a look-see. What I found was an interesting blend of imperative (Java, C#) and functional languages(it's ML-based, too!). It looks pretty enticing to me from a computer science perspective, but I'm not sure it would fly in the professional market. I can see the ease of development that a language loosely based on ML would bring, but I can't see coders switching over in droves since it's a tough learning curve." Our previous story on F#.

6 of 606 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Shut the hell up.

  2. Wrong... you couldn't.... by botzi · · Score: 0, Troll
    For instance, consider the Function square(int) which produces the square of any integer I give it. If I wanted to square every member of an integer array, then I could accomplish it in a Java-like language as follows:

    for (int i=0; i < myIntegerArray.size(); i++) {
    myIntegerArray[i]=Square(i);
    }

    Result: Every integer in my array would be squared.

    Why do I feel ready to bet that this won't even compile??????? Anyway, I definitely enjoy reading programming related papers from people so confident(to read: dumbass-ed) that do not check down their own examples......

    --
    1. No sig. 2. ???? 3. Profit!!!
  3. Good Grief by Azureflare · · Score: 0, Troll
    Wow, yet another language to learn among the morass of programming languages out there. F#...What's next? G#? D#? A#? Why do they discriminate against the flats of the world??

    I'd like to see a few flat languages, especially E flat...

    Anyway, I think it's too late for this. The only way Microsoft has dominance if it is the only option. I'm sorry, but it doesn't appear that F# is the only option that works for enterprise solutions at the moment.

  4. Re:This isn't all apparently... by Lazyhound · · Score: 1, Troll
    The future of society is at stake.
    Don't overestimate your own importance.
  5. Re:I like the idea by arkanes · · Score: 0, Troll

    quicksort in 3 lines of readable C++ code:

    #include "quicksort.h"
    Quicksort sorter;
    sorter.Sort();

  6. Try my new language by Tablizer · · Score: 0, Troll

    F.U.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.