10 ms·

great! now we just need more than two people that know f#. i keed...kinda ;)

by genzoman 9y ago

k__ 9y ago
some people said in the Reason3 update article that F# is better suited for JS devs than OCaml.
- genzoman 9y ago
  i saw somewhere an article mentioning "why don't more people write f#" (mebbe it was on h/n)? I have never had to really worry about concurrency and if you've got a good familiarity with C#, you're halfway there to being a very productive in TypeScript, so I don't see exactly where F# fits in, considering the best parts of C# are its functional bits.
  - tpetricek 9y ago
    The fact that the best parts of C# are its few functional bits might be a good hint that if you had a language that was designed around those good bits, it would be so much better ;-). I don't expect to convince anyone in a HN discussion, because that's not how arguments about programming languages work, but have a look at testimonials (http://fsharp.org/testimonials http://fsharp.org/testimonials). You'll see that many people who started using F#, are very happy with it because it lets them solve problems faster with fewer bugs and they enjoy it more.
  - mcintyre1994 9y ago
    You might find this an interesting read about C#/F#: https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/posts/is-your-language-unreasonable/ https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/posts/is-your-language-unr...
- delhanty 9y ago
  Here's a link to that thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15574409 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15574409
- hajile 9y ago
  Ocaml is the worst variant of ML in my opinion. Like usual, programmers always seem intent on making the worst option the biggest one (seriously, SML syntax is better than Ocaml syntax in almost every way).
  - wtetzner 9y ago
    > (seriously, SML syntax is better than Ocaml syntax in almost every way) Except that for the most part, that's subjected, and even more importantly, there are plenty of reasons to prefer OCaml over SML even if you don't like the syntax.
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    The syntax might be better, but the "ML for the Working Programmer" book was the only place I actually saw some SML code being used.
TensorMetric 9y ago
That would require Microsoft, the F# team, and the vocal F# community members to actually want F# to be a proper first-class .NET citizen, which sadly isn't the case. https://np.reddit.com/r/fsharp/comments/6tdrwq/after_so_many_years_still_no_net_native_nor/ https://np.reddit.com/r/fsharp/comments/6tdrwq/after_so_many...
- edgyswingset 9y ago
  As a sometimes-user of F#, I’m quite happy not caring about a dead-end technology like UWP and .NET Native, thank you very much. I’m glad everyone else seems to agree about that, too.
  - TensorMetric 9y ago
    UWP is the primary Windows client application platform going forward. https://np.reddit.com/r/csharp/comments/75mc1m/announcing_uwp_support_for_net_standard_20/do7jyw4/?context=3 https://np.reddit.com/r/csharp/comments/75mc1m/announcing_uw... All this FUD and hostility from the F# community (including the Fable devs) towards UWP, or anything that's of interest to most Windows and C# developers making the switch, is why F# will never be popular. And for most people who need to have their code running on anything else than Windows, F# and .NET wouldn't be their first choice anyway, given that there are plenty of better alternatives around, like Haskell, Scala, ReasonML, OCaml etc.
    - j_s 9y ago
      Replying to check back in one year. Good luck chasing Microsoft's moving cheese!
      - TensorMetric 9y ago
        Nothing is being moved. UWP has been here since the dawn of Windows 10, which evolved from WinRT, going back to Windows 8, and is constantly being extended with new APIs.
tpetricek 9y ago
Sssh. Speaking as one of the two people who know F#, I'd be very sad if others learned about it. It's my secret weapon that lets me solve problems that would otherwise take me weeks in a matter of days.
- IncRnd 9y ago
  People have also said that about Lisp, TCL, and Haskell. It's all true ;) Enjoy the sharp!

great! now we just need more than two people that know f#. i keed...kinda ;)

k__ 9y ago

some people said in the Reason3 update article that F# is better suited for JS devs than OCaml.

genzoman 9y ago
i saw somewhere an article mentioning "why don't more people write f#" (mebbe it was on h/n)? I have never had to really worry about concurrency and if you've got a good familiarity with C#, you're halfway there to being a very productive in TypeScript, so I don't see exactly where F# fits in, considering the best parts of C# are its functional bits.
- tpetricek 9y ago
  The fact that the best parts of C# are its few functional bits might be a good hint that if you had a language that was designed around those good bits, it would be so much better ;-). I don't expect to convince anyone in a HN discussion, because that's not how arguments about programming languages work, but have a look at testimonials (http://fsharp.org/testimonials http://fsharp.org/testimonials). You'll see that many people who started using F#, are very happy with it because it lets them solve problems faster with fewer bugs and they enjoy it more.
- mcintyre1994 9y ago
  You might find this an interesting read about C#/F#: https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/posts/is-your-language-unreasonable/ https://fsharpforfunandprofit.com/posts/is-your-language-unr...
delhanty 9y ago
Here's a link to that thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15574409 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15574409
hajile 9y ago
Ocaml is the worst variant of ML in my opinion. Like usual, programmers always seem intent on making the worst option the biggest one (seriously, SML syntax is better than Ocaml syntax in almost every way).
- wtetzner 9y ago
  > (seriously, SML syntax is better than Ocaml syntax in almost every way) Except that for the most part, that's subjected, and even more importantly, there are plenty of reasons to prefer OCaml over SML even if you don't like the syntax.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  The syntax might be better, but the "ML for the Working Programmer" book was the only place I actually saw some SML code being used.

TensorMetric 9y ago

That would require Microsoft, the F# team, and the vocal F# community members to actually want F# to be a proper first-class .NET citizen, which sadly isn't the case. https://np.reddit.com/r/fsharp/comments/6tdrwq/after_so_many_years_still_no_net_native_nor/ https://np.reddit.com/r/fsharp/comments/6tdrwq/after_so_many...

edgyswingset 9y ago
As a sometimes-user of F#, I’m quite happy not caring about a dead-end technology like UWP and .NET Native, thank you very much. I’m glad everyone else seems to agree about that, too.
- TensorMetric 9y ago
  UWP is the primary Windows client application platform going forward. https://np.reddit.com/r/csharp/comments/75mc1m/announcing_uwp_support_for_net_standard_20/do7jyw4/?context=3 https://np.reddit.com/r/csharp/comments/75mc1m/announcing_uw... All this FUD and hostility from the F# community (including the Fable devs) towards UWP, or anything that's of interest to most Windows and C# developers making the switch, is why F# will never be popular. And for most people who need to have their code running on anything else than Windows, F# and .NET wouldn't be their first choice anyway, given that there are plenty of better alternatives around, like Haskell, Scala, ReasonML, OCaml etc.
  - j_s 9y ago
    Replying to check back in one year. Good luck chasing Microsoft's moving cheese!
    - TensorMetric 9y ago
      Nothing is being moved. UWP has been here since the dawn of Windows 10, which evolved from WinRT, going back to Windows 8, and is constantly being extended with new APIs.

tpetricek 9y ago

Sssh. Speaking as one of the two people who know F#, I'd be very sad if others learned about it. It's my secret weapon that lets me solve problems that would otherwise take me weeks in a matter of days.

IncRnd 9y ago
People have also said that about Lisp, TCL, and Haskell. It's all true ;) Enjoy the sharp!