geek & interesting & personal & programming & undergrad computer science classes & wikipedia 29 Sep 2007 11:46 am

ML (programming language)

ML (programming language) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ML is often referred to as an impure functional language, because it permits side-effects, and therefore imperative programming, unlike purely functional programming languages such as Haskell. Features of ML include a call-by-value evaluation strategy, first class functions, automatic memory management through garbage collection, parametric polymorphism, static typing, type inference, algebraic data types, pattern matching, and exception handling. Unlike Haskell, ML uses eager evaluation, which means that all subexpressions are always evaluated. One result of this is that you cannot use infinite lists per se. However, lazy evaluation and hence infinite lists can be simulated, through use of anonymous functions. Today there are several languages in the ML family; the two major dialects are Standard ML and Caml, but others exist, including F# - an open research project that targets the Microsoft .NET platform. Ideas from ML have influenced numerous other languages, such as Haskell, Cyclone, and Nemerle. ML’s strengths are mostly applied in language design and manipulation (compilers, analyzers, theorem provers), but it is a general-purpose language also used in bioinformatics, financial systems, and applications including a genealogical database, a peer-to-peer client/server program, etc. [edit]

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