new toolset: original F# modules or ported from OCaml

Question

New language is interesting only if I can use new libraries. So I want to know what new libraries I can use in .net with F#. If F# is compatable with ML/OCaml what Ocaml libraries are ported to F# or can be ported. I'm interesting in signal processing/voice recognition, logic programming/SLD resolution libraries in .NET.

Answer 1

I don't think there is a large number of ML/OCaml libraries that have been ported to F#. The F# programming style has become quite different to what people use in ML/OCaml, so an ML/OCaml library would feel a bit foreign to F# programmers.

There are however some projects that cross-compile in F# and OCaml. F# compiler itself used to be like that and I believe that Slayer from MSR is (or was?) another example. However, for the two domains you mentioned, I'm not aware of any F# library around.

If you're interested in compiling OCaml code in F#, then here are a few things that may help you:

• The larger language limitation when porting OCaml code to F# is that F# doesn't support functors.
• Some standard OCaml libraries are implemented in the FSharp.PowerPack.Compatibility.dll assembly (which can be found in F# PowerPack)