4 ms·

Data science and interactive programming are actually the main focus of the next release of f#. Not saying it’s bad now, but Microsoft wants it to be a strong o

Data science and interactive programming are actually the main focus of the next release of f#. Not saying it’s bad now, but Microsoft wants it to be a strong option in data workflows. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/announcing-f-5-preview-1/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/announcing-f-5-preview... I had originally been learning ocaml but switched to f# because it has much better tooling and more uses (e.g. better web server support since I use .net libs)

rich_sasha 6y ago
Interesting, thank you! From just preliminary research, F# seems both loved by its devs, but also found to be a bit of an unloved child on a sidetrack - that was probably another reason I hesitated in getting started. Do you think that is justified?
- devmunchies 6y ago
  I wouldn't say its unloved or on a side track, it's baked into .net as a first class citizen and has dedicated engineers at Microsoft working on it. When I started I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to download .net core on a mac and not do anything else to use F#. Its less popular than C# so its there's not as much documentation from 3rd party sources, youtube videos, etc, but you can use any C# modules in F# so you'll get used to reading C# docs. I would highly recommend this overview of the .Net ecosystem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEfBfBQq7EE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEfBfBQq7EE I really like how it showed a preview of "modern C#" at 12:20 which is being influenced by F#. After that, this talk opened my eyes to the power of f# philosophy and type system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JB1_e5wZmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JB1_e5wZmU
heavyset_go 6y ago
How much of F#, .net and its data science stack can be divorced from Windows?
- devmunchies 6y ago
  .net is cross platform now. it has the same "run anywhere" philosophy as the JVM. I haven't used windows in over 10 years.
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    I'm aware that .net is cross platform, however there is the issue that C# apps that use WinForms or WPF aren't cross platform, or at least that was the case the last time I checked. I am curious as to whether the F# ecosystem is similarly fragmented by Windows-only libraries.
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    .NET Core isn't as feature rich as Java the GUI side, or supported platforms thought. Almost anything with a CPU has some OEM shipping JVM implementations for them, while Microsoft focus only on the major desktop and mobile OSes (one of them with its own coffee brand).
    - int_19h 6y ago
      That should be changing soon. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/introducing-net-multi-platform-app-ui/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/introducing-net-multi-...
      - pjmlp 6y ago
        That is Xamarin rebranded, and there is yet to be a clear roadmap where it stands versus Uno, Blazor (also being pushed for Electron like deployments), WinUI. Plus it doesn't help that some teams are adopting React Native, even alongside .NET. Too much chaos going on sorting out WinRT, while most of us aren't willing to say how high when Microsoft says jump.

rich_sasha 6y ago

Interesting, thank you! From just preliminary research, F# seems both loved by its devs, but also found to be a bit of an unloved child on a sidetrack - that was probably another reason I hesitated in getting started. Do you think that is justified?

devmunchies 6y ago
I wouldn't say its unloved or on a side track, it's baked into .net as a first class citizen and has dedicated engineers at Microsoft working on it. When I started I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to download .net core on a mac and not do anything else to use F#. Its less popular than C# so its there's not as much documentation from 3rd party sources, youtube videos, etc, but you can use any C# modules in F# so you'll get used to reading C# docs. I would highly recommend this overview of the .Net ecosystem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEfBfBQq7EE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEfBfBQq7EE I really like how it showed a preview of "modern C#" at 12:20 which is being influenced by F#. After that, this talk opened my eyes to the power of f# philosophy and type system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JB1_e5wZmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JB1_e5wZmU

heavyset_go 6y ago

How much of F#, .net and its data science stack can be divorced from Windows?

devmunchies 6y ago
.net is cross platform now. it has the same "run anywhere" philosophy as the JVM. I haven't used windows in over 10 years.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  I'm aware that .net is cross platform, however there is the issue that C# apps that use WinForms or WPF aren't cross platform, or at least that was the case the last time I checked. I am curious as to whether the F# ecosystem is similarly fragmented by Windows-only libraries.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  .NET Core isn't as feature rich as Java the GUI side, or supported platforms thought. Almost anything with a CPU has some OEM shipping JVM implementations for them, while Microsoft focus only on the major desktop and mobile OSes (one of them with its own coffee brand).
  - int_19h 6y ago
    That should be changing soon. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/introducing-net-multi-platform-app-ui/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/introducing-net-multi-...
    - pjmlp 6y ago
      That is Xamarin rebranded, and there is yet to be a clear roadmap where it stands versus Uno, Blazor (also being pushed for Electron like deployments), WinUI. Plus it doesn't help that some teams are adopting React Native, even alongside .NET. Too much chaos going on sorting out WinRT, while most of us aren't willing to say how high when Microsoft says jump.