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I suspect F# can also be compiled to nearly anything OCaml can be -- that is specifically the point of the Code Quotations feature of the language. F# is also

I suspect F# can also be compiled to nearly anything OCaml can be -- that is specifically the point of the Code Quotations feature of the language. F# is also open-source (https://github.com/fsharp/fsharp https://github.com/fsharp/fsharp). Why do you keep implying it isn't?

Mikeb85 13y ago
The .NET runtime isn't open source... I like how this is down-voted as though it isn't true...
- MichaelGG 13y ago
  Perhaps because you're being pedantic about .NET versus the CLI? The CLI spec is a standard and open source. Microsoft's own version isn't open source (well, they did release an "open" source version, Rotor). But Mono's is.
- profquail 13y ago
  Correct -- the .NET runtime isn't open source. F# has a very strong following on Mono though. In fact, I suspect a higher percentage of F# developers develop and/or deploy on Mono than any other language does. You may not know this, but F# ships with the Mono distribution for OS X, and it may well ship with the Linux packages before long. BTW, I maintain the F# port for FreeBSD, and the combination of F#, Mono 3.2.x, FreeBSD 10, and emacs is extremely fast and stable. http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd
  - platz 13y ago
    I think the performance of Mono on Linux is a bit lacking though, compared to other Linux VM's/Runtimes or the Windows CLR runtime.
    - profquail 13y ago
      That's true. Mono is generally slower than the CLR, though it has been improving ever since Xamarin took over. There's also an option now to use LLVM as the JIT compilation engine in Mono; for server-based applications (where steady-state performance matters more than start-up time), this can greatly improve the performance thanks to LLVM's optimizer. With the improvements in the latest 3.2.x branch, I think Mono's performance is at least "good enough" for many use cases. FWIW, I do a bit of F# + Mono development on FreeBSD 9 (and now FreeBSD 10) and have found the performance to be quite good. I wrote an installation guide (http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd) if you want to give it a try, e.g., in a VirtualBox VM.
      - platz 13y ago
        The LLVM as the JIT compilation engine in Mono option is very interesting! Thanks for that tip. I used to use freebsd as a student a while ago. It was pretty interesting and I wish more people would give it a try.

Mikeb85 13y ago

The .NET runtime isn't open source... I like how this is down-voted as though it isn't true...

MichaelGG 13y ago
Perhaps because you're being pedantic about .NET versus the CLI? The CLI spec is a standard and open source. Microsoft's own version isn't open source (well, they did release an "open" source version, Rotor). But Mono's is.
profquail 13y ago
Correct -- the .NET runtime isn't open source. F# has a very strong following on Mono though. In fact, I suspect a higher percentage of F# developers develop and/or deploy on Mono than any other language does. You may not know this, but F# ships with the Mono distribution for OS X, and it may well ship with the Linux packages before long. BTW, I maintain the F# port for FreeBSD, and the combination of F#, Mono 3.2.x, FreeBSD 10, and emacs is extremely fast and stable. http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd
- platz 13y ago
  I think the performance of Mono on Linux is a bit lacking though, compared to other Linux VM's/Runtimes or the Windows CLR runtime.
  - profquail 13y ago
    That's true. Mono is generally slower than the CLR, though it has been improving ever since Xamarin took over. There's also an option now to use LLVM as the JIT compilation engine in Mono; for server-based applications (where steady-state performance matters more than start-up time), this can greatly improve the performance thanks to LLVM's optimizer. With the improvements in the latest 3.2.x branch, I think Mono's performance is at least "good enough" for many use cases. FWIW, I do a bit of F# + Mono development on FreeBSD 9 (and now FreeBSD 10) and have found the performance to be quite good. I wrote an installation guide (http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd http://fsharp.org/use/freebsd) if you want to give it a try, e.g., in a VirtualBox VM.
    - platz 13y ago
      The LLVM as the JIT compilation engine in Mono option is very interesting! Thanks for that tip. I used to use freebsd as a student a while ago. It was pretty interesting and I wish more people would give it a try.