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On Linux making a standalone binary is surprisingly easy: $ fsharpc file.fs # can run the generated file.exe via mono at this point $ mkbundle --stati

On Linux making a standalone binary is surprisingly easy: $ fsharpc file.fs # can run the generated file.exe via mono at this point $ mkbundle --static file.exe -o file Now ./file is a statically compiled binary. Easy deployment.

sixbrx 13y ago
Wow, I had no idea things have progressed this far in the F# world on Linux. I might have to try it on my next numerical project. Thanks for posting.
throwaway344 13y ago
That is awesome. I've been working pretty extensively with F# (several small projects, and a current bigger one), and I really love the language. Has all the functional constructs that I like plus mutable variables when I need them. And pretty boilerplate-less.
tbirdz 13y ago
I was interested in the language, but was put off by the .NET connection for using on linux. Is F# running on mono on linux comparable, performance-wise, with the windows stack?
- MichaelGG 13y ago
  Mono is generally slower, with a few exceptions. It's not "slow" though - maybe half the performance of the CLR? I'm not sure where it stands after v3, which includes a proper GC. Mono also has an LLVM option which increases startup times, but provides a ~30% bonus at runtime.
  - bunderbunder 13y ago
    One of the possible exceptions is number crunching. .NET has no equivalent to Mono.SIMD, so for numerical tasks it's conceivable that code written for Mono could end up being far faster. Depending on what you're doing, the performance difference might not matter in practice. Mono's (historically, at least) done worse with super OO-y code because of its poorer GC performance, but oftentimes that kind of code also ends up appearing in applications where overall performance is dominated by I/O and CPU efficiency ends up being negligible.
- snotrockets 13y ago
  Whenever splitting Microsoft is mentioned, I pray for them to spin off the devtools. F# is better Scala than Scala, C# better Java than Java. Both suffer from a meh runtime (compared to other offers) on non-Windows platforms.
bunderbunder 13y ago
One potential gotcha there: The Mono runtime libraries are licensed under the LGPL, so beware of using this option if you've got licensing restrictions that prevent you from distributing binaries that are statically linked to LGPL code. You can always leave the --static flag off, but then your binaries will require the Mono run-time to be installed.

sixbrx 13y ago

Wow, I had no idea things have progressed this far in the F# world on Linux. I might have to try it on my next numerical project. Thanks for posting.

throwaway344 13y ago

That is awesome. I've been working pretty extensively with F# (several small projects, and a current bigger one), and I really love the language. Has all the functional constructs that I like plus mutable variables when I need them. And pretty boilerplate-less.

tbirdz 13y ago

I was interested in the language, but was put off by the .NET connection for using on linux. Is F# running on mono on linux comparable, performance-wise, with the windows stack?

MichaelGG 13y ago
Mono is generally slower, with a few exceptions. It's not "slow" though - maybe half the performance of the CLR? I'm not sure where it stands after v3, which includes a proper GC. Mono also has an LLVM option which increases startup times, but provides a ~30% bonus at runtime.
- bunderbunder 13y ago
  One of the possible exceptions is number crunching. .NET has no equivalent to Mono.SIMD, so for numerical tasks it's conceivable that code written for Mono could end up being far faster. Depending on what you're doing, the performance difference might not matter in practice. Mono's (historically, at least) done worse with super OO-y code because of its poorer GC performance, but oftentimes that kind of code also ends up appearing in applications where overall performance is dominated by I/O and CPU efficiency ends up being negligible.
snotrockets 13y ago
Whenever splitting Microsoft is mentioned, I pray for them to spin off the devtools. F# is better Scala than Scala, C# better Java than Java. Both suffer from a meh runtime (compared to other offers) on non-Windows platforms.

bunderbunder 13y ago

One potential gotcha there: The Mono runtime libraries are licensed under the LGPL, so beware of using this option if you've got licensing restrictions that prevent you from distributing binaries that are statically linked to LGPL code. You can always leave the --static flag off, but then your binaries will require the Mono run-time to be installed.