Jim Lawrence
accessd at shaw.ca
Fri Mar 7 00:53:39 CST 2014
One of the main reasons for upgrading to Ubuntu 14.04 was so I could learn F#. It takes only two lines of code, at the command prompt, to accomplish the task. # This is just to refresh all existing system and application libraries...just to be current...like a system update on steroids. (Does Microsoft have equivalent features?) sudo apt-get update # Now let's install a couple of applications. Mono replaces the need for a full VS install and then you can just add your choice of editors if you find Mono's editor not as full featured as you like. sudo apt-get install mono-complete sudo apt-get install fsharp Try that on any other system. ;-) F# also comes with OSS cross-platform compilers. F# has full web asynchronous, parallel processing and with distributive capabilities formed right into the language itself and not just add-ins or extended features. It even has the capability of embedding or consuming features from other languages or objects within it and using them as a user defined types, like LINQ, C#, with database objects and natural queries and so on. F# can then even be compiled in JavaScript...interesting. According to one article; "F# can integrate and interoperate with data-science systems such as Excel, R, MATLAB, Mathematica and Python...". F# consumes all the major JavaScript libraries and even touch screen support. (Note: Not to fear, Bing maps can be removed and replaced with Google maps). Coding in the language is very tight; a lot can be done with but a few lines of code. It seems perfect for the new age development. Unlike, other applications created within Microsoft, this package is fully open source and has an extending support community. Because of all the above mentioned functionality the popularity for F# is surging ahead. "Ranked 69th on the index a year ago, F# has risen to the 12th spot in this month's rankings, with a 1.216 percent rating. As the index headline notes, 'F# is on its way to the Top 10.'" http://www.infoworld.com/t/microsoft-net/microsoft-backed-f-language-surges-in-popularity-237689 IMHO, F# may end up being one of the most used languages and have a great future. Jim