F#

Language proliferation

By jonskeet

I’ve always been aware that .NET supports multiple languages (obviously) and that Microsoft has been experimenting with this to some extent. It’s only recently struck me just to what extent this is the case though. Here’s a list – almost certainly incomplete – of .NET languages from Microsoft alone. C# VB (or VB.NET if you wish) C++/CLI F# IronPython IronRuby Spec# M (with Oslo) Axum Managed JScript PowerShell Cω J# (not shipping any more, I believe) Some of these are research languages which are more important for the ideas they’ve contributed to more mainstream ones at a later date than … Continue reading Language proliferation

Getting started with F#

By jonskeet

Updated 13th November: Robert pickering has answered the questions. I’ve included his answers inline. Thanks Robert! The talks I went to at TechEd today (Friday) were mostly related to concurrency and F#. I’ve decided that although it’s fairly unlikely I’ll use it in a serious manner, it’s worth learning F# mostly to become more comfortable with functional programming in general. Apart from anything else, this is likely to help in terms of LINQ and general concurrency. I was fortunate enough to win a copy of Robert Pickering’s “Foundations of F#” today at the final talk, answering a “pop quiz” question … Continue reading Getting started with F#