This week Matt Podwysocki puts the fun in functional programming with a deep dive into F#. We’ve heard plenty of high level discussions of F# and functional programming lately, so we tried to dig into the gory details as much as possible:

• What is functional programming, and why should we care?
• Types of applications that would and wouldn’t benefit from F#
• How F# differs from C# 3.x and Javascript
• How F# is being used (games, scripting, data analysis and scrubbing, etc.)
• F# pattern matching
• Using F# in your C# or VB based applications today
• Getting started: F# Interactive, reading the F# source, books and resources
• Interaction with DLR
• Functional features we’d like to see in C# and VB
• Spec# and Sing#

Links:

• Matt Podwysocki’s blog
• hubFS
• Download the Microsoft F#, September 2008 Community Technology Preview
• F# Developer Center
• Dryad
• Spec#
• Singularity (Sing#)

Download / Listen

Herding Code 18: Matthew Podwysocki on F# and Functional Programming

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Books:

• Expert F# – Don Syme – http://www.amazon.com/Expert-F-Experts-Voice-Net/dp/1590598504/
• Foundations of F# – Robert Pickering – http://www.amazon.com/Foundations-F-Experts-Voice-Net/dp/1590597575/
• F# for Scientists – Dr. Jon Harrop – http://www.amazon.com/F-Scientists-Jon-Harrop/dp/0470242116/

Blogs:

• Don Syme – http://blogs.msdn.com/dsyme/default.aspx
• Chris Smith (F# Tester) – http://blogs.msdn.com/chrsmith/default.aspx
• Brian McNamara (F# Dev) – http://lorgonblog.spaces.live.com/
• Jomo Fisher (F# Dev) – http://blogs.msdn.com/jomo_fisher/default.aspx
• Andrew Kennedy (MSR) – http://blogs.msdn.com/andrewkennedy/default.aspx
• Luca Bolognese (Managed Languages Principal PM) – http://blogs.msdn.com/lucabol/default.aspx

Podcasts/Videos

• Dryad on .NET Rocks – http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=378
• Simon Peyton-Jones on Functional Programming and Haskell – http://se-radio.net/podcast/2008-08/episode-108-simon-peyton-jones-functional-programming-and-haskell

• Any Colony Simulation – http://www.strangelights.com/blog/archive/2008/05/04/1613.aspx
• FsTest – http://www.codeplex.com/FsTest