F#
ML / .NET · 2005Actively developedML-style typed functional programming integrated with .NET.
Procedural · Functional
Links
- Homepage
- https://fsharp.org/
- Reference / standard
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fsharp/
- Wikipedia (English)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_Sharp_(programming_language)
Tracked release
- Version
- 10
- Artifact
- Language version
- Published
- 2025
- Source checked
- 2026-10-22
Use & ecosystem
- Suited for
- Web backends, Data / scientific computing, CLI tools / automation
- Family / tradition
- Functional / ML / lazy
- Maturity
- Established
- Ecosystem breadth
- Focused
A stable supported toolchain and sustained professional use justify Established. .NET interoperability does not make the smaller F#-specific ecosystem broad by itself.
Industry & practical use
Backend services, data-oriented applications and automation are strong fits. Many .NET APIs can be used directly, though their design may favor C# conventions.
Compilers, libraries & tooling
The .NET SDK, NuGet and editor tools provide the mainstream workflow. Fable supplies JavaScript compilation for compatible code; type providers and quotations support specialized metaprogramming.
Platforms & deployment
- General toolchains
- Linux, Windows, macOS
- Specialized tooling
- Browser
- Browser execution
- JavaScript
- Native cross-compilation
- Not the usual deployment model
Standard .NET deployments cover major desktop/server systems. Fable provides a specialized browser route with its own library constraints.
Managed applications ordinarily deploy on .NET. Native AOT and host-specific application publishing require separate compatibility checks.
Project health & support
Microsoft’s .NET work, the F# Software Foundation and community contributors provide support. Framework and library support should be checked for the intended F# workflow.
Use, ecosystem & platform assessment reviewed 2026-10-22 · Sources below
History & origin
Don Syme’s work at Microsoft Research began in the early 2000s, with public F# releases in 2005. It adapted ML-family ideas to .NET and practical application development.
- Creators
- Don Syme, Microsoft Research
- Origin
- 2005 — First public release; development began in 2002.
Influences & descendants
Influenced by
Influenced in this catalogue
- No linked entries yet.
Language features
- Typing
- Static
- Execution
- Bytecode VM, JIT, Transpiled
- Block structure
- Layout or explicit delimiters
- Semicolons
- Optional
- Lexical closures
- Yes
- Namespaced modules
- Yes
- Pattern matching
- Yes
- Macro system
- Quotations and type providers; no general-purpose macro system
Implementation notes
- Type providers and quotations are not an unrestricted core syntactic macro facility, hence Partial. The offside layout rule has an explicit-delimiter alternative.
Sources & references
- Project overview
- https://fsharp.org/
- Language / implementation reference
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fsharp/
Use, ecosystem & platform sources
- Project overview
- https://fsharp.org/
- Language / implementation reference
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fsharp/
See the classification definitions for implementation-dependent features. Influence links cover the entries documented here.