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Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

cs.cmu.edu

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Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#2

Post by quchen »

A bit of context would be nice. Is this the go-to book to learn SML, or just a random source?

SML has been on the higher ranks of my to-learn stack, because apparently it has some nice features Haskell does not, most notably I've heard great things about the module system.

Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#3

Post by isido »

quchen wrote: post #2

A bit of context would be nice. Is this the go-to book to learn SML, or just a random source? SML has been on the higher ranks of my to-learn stack, because apparently it has some nice features Haskell does not, most notably I've heard great things about the module system.

I'm not sure if SML can catch up with OCaml's nice tooling (opam, merlin, Core, etc...), even if it feels a bit cleaner language to me. A Shame, but merits of a programming language are not proportional to its success.

Edit. Oh, and here's a previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2433860

Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#4

Post by zelos »

I just started looking at Standard ML so I could understand the examples in Purely Functional Data Structures. There's something very pleasing in the simplicity of its syntax.

Anybody have experience in applying it to larger problems?

Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#5

Post by baldfat »

quchen wrote: post #2

A bit of context would be nice. Is this the go-to book to learn SML, or just a random source? SML has been on the higher ranks of my to-learn stack, because apparently it has some nice features Haskell does not, most notably I've heard great things about the module system.

I am working through this coursea course via YouTube and I also found some github repos that have the course's homework material. https://www.coursera.org/course/proglang

The first language is ML and than moves to Racket. Really learned a ton just doing the first weeks. It is more of a CS 202 Programming Languages course which was perfect for me since I really wanted to learn more about functional programming.

Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#6

Post by imglorp »

zelos wrote: post #4

I just started looking at Standard ML so I could understand the examples in Purely Functional Data Structures. There's something very pleasing in the simplicity of its syntax. Anybody have experience in applying it to larger problems?

Yeah, I used it industrially for a brief period, using it to do theorem proving on hardware descriptions. Pleasing is the right word, especially the clean syntax, close-to-pure functional nature, type signatures and type inference. At the time the tools were immature so it might not have been the best idea, but they've had some time to settle down.

Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#7

Post by brudgers »

baldfat wrote: post #5
quchen wrote: post #2

A bit of context would be nice. Is this the go-to book to learn SML, or just a random source? SML has been on the higher ranks of my to-learn stack, because apparently it has some nice features Haskell does not, most notably I've heard great things about the module system.

I am working through this coursea course via YouTube and I also found some github repos that have the course's homework material. https://www.coursera.org/course/proglang The first language is ML and than moves to Racket. Really learned a ton just doing the first weeks. It is more of a CS 202 Programming Languages course which was perfect for me since I really wanted to learn more about functional programming.

I took the second live offering of Dan Grossman's class on Coursera in fall 2013. There was another in the last year, so if the pattern holds, there would be another in the next few months or so.

https://www.coursera.org/course/proglang

Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#8

Post by biehl »

quchen wrote: post #2

A bit of context would be nice. Is this the go-to book to learn SML, or just a random source? SML has been on the higher ranks of my to-learn stack, because apparently it has some nice features Haskell does not, most notably I've heard great things about the module system.

Not sure. This was the book I used: http://www.it.dtu.dk/introSML/

There are plenty of suggestions here http://www.smlnj.org/doc/literature.html

Re: Programming in Standard ML (2011) [pdf]

#9

Post by brudgers »

I picked up a used copy of Jeff Ullman's Elements of ML Programming a couple of months ago for less than five bucks. It strikes me as compact and readable in the K&R style, in that it doesn't get bogged down in the tedium of regurgitated technical details or over emphasis on syntax.

It probably helps that ML [Ullman uses SML/NJ] isn't much on ceremony to begin with. Yet somehow, I never feel like it needs more curly braces and semicolons.

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