Nick Benton
ABSTRACT
SML.NET is a compiler for Standard ML that targets the Common Language Runtime and is integrated into the Visual Studio development environment. It supports easy interoperability with other .NET languages via a number of language extensions, which go considerably beyond those of our earlier compiler, MLj.This paper describes the new language extensions and the features of the Visual Studio plugin, including syntax highlighting, Intellisense, continuous type inference and debugger support. We discuss our experiences using SML.NET to write SML programs that interoperate with other .NET languages, libraries and frameworks. Examples include the Visual Studio plugin itself (written in SML.NET, using .NET's COM interop features to integrate in a C++ application) and writing ASP.NET and Pocket PC applications in SML.
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Index Terms
- Adventures in interoperability: the SML.NET experience
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Reviews
William M. Waite
SML.NET is an implementation of Standard ML (SML) that targets the .NET common language infrastructure (CLI). The authors' goal seems to have been to maximize the number of .NET facilities visible to the SML programmer. Thus, the bulk of the paper is devoted to language extensions. There is a short section on performance, and one on how the implementation integrates with Visual Studio. The authors conclude that SML.NET demonstrates that the CLI is a suitable compilation target for functional languages. I would recommend this paper to ML experts who are interested in writing applications for .NET, but not to language implementers thinking about using .NET as a target. The descriptions of the language extensions illustrate how it is possible to describe a wide variety of features in ways that are at least somewhat functional. Nevertheless, my general impression of the work was one of having a hammer, and therefore regarding everything as a nail. Online Computing Reviews Service
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