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I haven't tried Fable 3 yet, but I can speak to Fable 2 (F#) vs ReScript/ReasonML (OCaml). F# was heavily inspired by OCaml, it was originally intended as "Wha
by jordwest 6y ago
I haven't tried Fable 3 yet, but I can speak to Fable 2 (F#) vs ReScript/ReasonML (OCaml).
F# was heavily inspired by OCaml, it was originally intended as "What would OCaml look like running on .NET?" so the languages themselves share a lot of similarities.
ReasonML pros:
- ReasonML compilation times were much faster than Fable 2, but Fable compile times weren't bad. OCaml is ridiculously fast.
- OCaml has an interesting module system that's missing from F#.
- The toolchain feels a lot more lightweight than the whole .NET toolchain.
Fable pros:
- I found interop with JS and OOP stuff much easier in Fable than in ReasonML
- Fable has a tool for converting TypeScript definitions to Fable definitions - though it hasn't always worked for me for more complex type definitions
- I prefer F#'s whitespace sensitive syntax over OCaml, but that's just personal preference
- F# type providers are pretty cool
- F# has an interactive mode, and you can write standalone scripts (eg. for devops)
- If you want to write a web backend in the same language, F# on .NET is much more mature in the web space than OCaml.
- dfgdghdf 6y agoI think you are missing the biggest advantage of F#: computation expressions. Computation expressions are like do-notation and list comprehensions in one feature. Now that I have tried them, I don't want to go back to a language without!
- KurtMueller 6y agoComputation expressions seem like one of F#'s unique features. I assume there are corollaries in other languages - but damn do they make code readable.
- jordwest 6y agoOh yes! These are amazing. Took me a while to understand what they do, but now the simplest way I think of it is that they're powerful enough to let you build your own async/await (though you don't need to - async await computation expressions are already included)
- galaxyLogic 6y agoInteresting. But is it true that that is nothing like that in other languages?
- dfgdghdf 6y agoThey are a bit like do-notation in Haskell, but with a few extra things. They are also like a more restricted / opinionated version of Clojure macros. What's really cool is that things like ```async function *``` from JS can be implemented as libraries in F#.
- nsonha 6y agoThis is just monadic bind, every functional language has this
- drs444 6y agoF# computation expressions go well beyond notation for monadic bind, see the section in https://fsharp.org/history https://fsharp.org/history or other technical descriptions.