2 ms·

This is a pretty weird opinion. How could the idea that F# "delivers where other functional languages didn't" be anything but strange Microsoft hype? or is this

by ploxiln 12y ago

This is a pretty weird opinion. How could the idea that F# "delivers where other functional languages didn't" be anything but strange Microsoft hype? or is this a joke? The existing functional languages (which also notably include ocaml and common lisp on SBCL), "on linux", happen to also run on OS X, BSD, and some of them on Windows too. Could you really think those all suck, but F# is great?

fsloth 12y ago
Respectfully, there is a difference between "It is feasible to compile an executable" and "has industry grade support and tooling". If we discuss just tooling on windows, I heartily concur with the assessment that "F# delivers where other functional languages didn't". I've tried those other languages. I've not yet met anything that would compare with the integration in Visual Studio with the F# command line, project tooling and the .Net ecosystem. Unfortunately I've not tested F# on my Ubuntu boot, but on Windows as functional languages go it is an absolute joy to develop with. Clojure's toolchain comes pretty close, but not quite. For example, FFI to C is much nicer in .Net. Whatever the overall company culture may be, Microsoft actually has lots of bright and well intending software folks working for them, and F# is clearly a labour of love brought to fruition there.