What is the F# language created to accomplish?

Question

I have noticed more and more a growing number of resources for developing applications using the F# programming language and the question came to mind of what the F# language was created to accomplish. Is it made for a specific platform, for example, Desktop, Mobile Devices, Web Applications? Also, did it include features not available in other programming languages that are currently available for developing .NET applications? Also is it still possible to create applications for the desktop, mobile, and web using F# as we can use VB or C#? Also, are there other languages similar to F# that I can use to cross-check against to get a better understanding of how functional programming works?

Answer 1

What is the F# language created to accomplish?

The F# research project sought to create a variant of the OCaml language running on top of the .Net platform. A related project at MSR Cambridge, SML.NET, did the same for Standard ML. (OCaml and Standard ML are both variants of the ML language.) The motivations for this might have included

1. Showing it can be done.
2. Publishing scientific papers showing it can be done.
3. Because ML is incredibly cool.

This shouldn't distract you from the fact that the F# product is a general-purpose programming language for the .Net platform. The benefits of F# extend across all domains. There may be users who are adopting F# more rapidly - scientific and financial programming are often mentioned - but the real reason for that is because those organizations are more amenable to adopting new technology (small teams, smart people, few managers).

Is it made for a specific platform for example Desktop, Mobile Devices, Web Applications?

No.

Also did it include features not available in other programming languages that are currently available for developing .NET applications?

Yes. They include:

• Algebraic datatypes
• Pattern matching
• Type inference
• Succinct syntax
• Sequence expressions
• Asynchronous workflows
• Units of measure

Also is it still possible to create applications for the desktop, mobile, and web using F# as we can using VB or C#?

Yes but the tooling in VS2010 is incomplete. In particular, anything involving code-generation isn't well supported e.g. WPF code-behind and the Winforms designer. This may not be a problem in practice. For instance WPF with MVVM works fairly well.

Also are there other languages similar to F# that I can use to cross check against to get a better understanding how functional programming works?

Yes. Have a look at these:

• Standard ML
• OCaml
• Haskell
• Clojure

[Edit: Added comment about tooling in VS2010.]

Answer 2

F# was created to bring a functional programming language to .NET.

It isn't intended for any particular platform. According to Microsoft Research, it "has particular strengths in data-oriented programming, parallel I/O programming, parallel CPU programming, scripting and algorithmic development". F# is used for financial and scientific applications in particular.

C# was created for Microsoft to have a modern C-like language since they were restricted from extending Java to take advantage of Windows. It was designed to be a component-oriented language and isn't specialized for the Web in any way.

F# is primarily a functional language whereas C# and VB are both primarily object-oriented.

See also:

• In what areas might the use of F# be more appropriate than C#?
• What are the benefits of using C# vs F# or F# vs C#?