Expert F# is about practical programming in a beautiful language that puts the power and elegance of functional programming into the hands of .NET developers. In combination with .NET, F# achieves unrivaled levels of programmer productivity and program clarity. This books serves as
The authoritative guide to F# by the designer of F#
A comprehensive reference of F# concepts, syntax, and features
A treasury of expert F# techniques for practical, real–world programming
While inspired by OCaml, F# isn't just another functional programming language. Drawing on many of the strengths of both OCaml and .NET, it's a general–purpose language ideal for real–world development. F# integrates functional, imperative, and object–oriented programming styles so you can flexibly and elegantly solve programming problems, and brings .NET development alive with interactive execution. Whatever your background, you'll find that F# is easy to learn, fun to use, and extraordinarily powerful. F# will help change the way you think about and go about programming.
Written by F#'s designer and two active contributors, Expert F# is the authoritative, comprehensive, and in-depth guide to the language and its use. Designed to help others become experts, the book gives a thorough introduction to the F# language from quick essentials to in-depth advanced topics such as active pattern matching, aggregate data types and operators, sequence expressions, lazy values, mutable data and side–effects, generics, type augmentations, functional decomposition and code organization.
The second half of the book is devoted to examining the practical application of F#, providing elegant solutions to common programming tasks including UI implementation, data access, web and distributed programming, symbolic and numerical computations, concurrent programming, testing, profiling, and interoperability with other languages. The latest hot developments in F# and .NET are also addressed, including Active Patterns, implicit class construction, integration with LINQ over relational data, meta programming and useful tips for working with Visual Studio and F# command–line tools.
The worlds foremost experts in F# show you how to program in F# the way they do!
What you’ll learn
How to use F# for functional, imperative, and object–oriented programming
How to code elegant F# solutions with expert technique and style
How to develop Windows, web, graphics, and database applications in F#
How to do numerical, concurrent, lexical, and symbolic processing in F#
How to interoperate with C and COM
Who is this book for?
This book is for anyone interested in state–of–the art .NET programming. Professional programmers will find it engrossing. F# provides invaluable insight into the future of both C# and VB, which are now adopting some (but far from all) of the functional features of F#. Once they learn F#, few feel like returning to either C# or VB. The academic community will find F# the answer to a decades–long prayer: a language suitable for teaching computer science that also excites and empowers students because it can be used not just in the classroom, but also in the real world.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Good book!
It's definitely a good book. I've read a few sections in it and have been impressed with what I've seen. The book is targeted toward specific implementations of F# in various settings. I like that but think other people won't. The techniques described are quite powerful. I'd say this is a must for experts in the .NET languages.
Rating: - Seems kinda rushed, disjointed
This is my amended review after reading the other reviews for the first time. I totally agree with Muhammad, who also gave this book a 2 star rating. I can't believe people are giving this book rave reviews (I think some of the reviewers are being paid). I read lots of computer books, and this one just isn't that well written in comparison. It is quite apparent to me that the authors do not write applications for a living. Instead of "Expert F#" it should be "Academic F#". From an expert, you ... Read More
Rating: - Not to be used as your first source for learning functional programming
For a background about the reviewer, I am a software developer with 5 years of experience. I have programmed in C# and C++ only.
This is one of the first books to be written about F#. Taking into consideration that F# works on top of the .NET framework and all previous .NET Languages didn't include a functional language, most intended audience should be expected to have little or no background of functional programing while having a good background of imperative programming.
Read More
Rating: - Excellent book to have fun and be productive in .NET
As an experienced programmer, notably in C#, Scheme & Haskell, with no prior F# exposure, I've found Expert F# a joy to read and its level just right. The book reflects the language F# itself: it's elegant, fun & practical.
Genuinely interesting, the code samples never appear contrived, as is usually the case in a text presenting a language. Actually, Expert F# goes well beyond teaching F#: it is a compelling demonstration of effective functional programming and I am sure I've grown ... Read More
Rating: - Definitive Guide for F#
"Expert F#" is a book that focuses on more experienced developers. Although the first chapters look like introduction chapters, actually there are more than introduction chapters that explains the core F# libraries with examples expecting the reader to know the basics.
This book is built primarily on the language and the effective usage of its libraries. The first 10 chapters are more based on the language, libraries and techniques that will support to develop fluently. However; the real fun ... Read More
- Good book!
- Seems kinda rushed, disjointed
