Talk:F Sharp (programming language)

The first paragraph in the Overview section is a mess. I don't know what it's trying to say or I'd fix it. Someone who knows about F# should get on that. :-)

Isn't this funny??

When I see this article's name in Wikipedia's title and in the top of my window, a strange character appears. However, when I click on the downward-pointing triangle and this article appears at one of the choices, a real sharp sign appears. Any other articles of this kind?? Georgia guy 01:50, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Fixed, now it is similar to C# and others. Pavel Vozenilek 18:40, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Why is linking to .NET libraries a disadvantage?

"A weakness of F# is its setting within .NET. A key design aim is seamless .NET interoperability, both via direct use of .NET APIs from F# and authorship of natural .NET components in F#. Consequently, the main F# libraries are the .NET libraries themselves (e.g. DirectX, Windows Forms, and ASP.NET, as well as alternatives like Gtk#)." Why is this a disadvantage? I would have thought that it is an advantage.

I can't possibly see how that would be a disadvantage. Also, taking a look at the article's history, it's evident that it's typical vandalism. Reverting. Chuboltite 12:38, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

I can't see how it's a disadvantage either. That's like saying it's a disadvantage to have Java run by the Java Virtual Machine. Managed languages are run by VM's (the CLR in this case) so if that's a criticism then it should be about the paradigm of managed languages, not F#.

Does the article still claim that? Where? --soum ^talk 18:29, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

"Cross-platform"?

Not if someone uses "DirectX, Windows Forms, and ASP.NET" in it - an easy trap, which microsoft is setting up with these "#" languages, but arguably not the fault of the language. I don't know how cross-platform "Gtk#" is. In any case, as I said adding citation-needed, "one has to doubt how cross-platform a Microsoft product is. Someone find an independent source that explains exactly what platforms [F#] works on, how well, and how freely!" E.g. can I easily start making GUIs with F# on PowerPC NetBSD without agreeing to any non-free licenses? (presuming I already have a generic powerpc netbsd system and know how to use it) And if I do, what systems will those GUI programs then run on, and how easily? —Isaac Dupree^(talk) 14:21, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Would something like this satisfy you? You also mentioned Gtk_Sharp, it *is* cross-platform, read the article. I'm not sure why you raise the "non-free" issue, F# can be used freely, read the license agreement. Mono (software) is a free implementation of the CLI on which compiled F# applications *do* run. 222.225.196.13 13:14, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

You should be able to create GUI programs with F# on PowerPC NetBSD system and run it without much problems. Both PowerPC and NetBSD are supported Mono platforms. Sanxiyn 07:16, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually, the F# compiler itself runs on mono --SealedSun (talk) 13:11, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

What's missing

A good start, but it seems that there's still quite a lot of things missing. For one thing, many features that make F# remarkable in its family aren't covered - for example, active patterns aren't even mentioned, and there's no explanation that both sequence comprehensions and async workflows are just specific applications of the "computation expression" language feature, which is user-extensible (see [1]), and how it all relates to monads.

I think the differences between F# and other ML languages (such as lack of functors and structural typing) also deserve their own section.

Light syntax should be mentioned, as #light is present in the examples. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.87.80.3 (talk) 09:33, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Number Agreement

• Every statement in F#, including if statements and loops, are composable expressions with a definite return type as well. isn't it "every statement is"? --195.50.80.2 (talk) 08:58, 25 June 2009 (UTC)