RE: [Caml-list] parameterized pattern

["Don Syme" <Don.Syme@microsoft.com>]

[ FWIW let's take discussions about F# off-list, e.g. to hubFS? ]

> As a mostly Java programmer now, I have to say I'm a bit 
> envious. C# generics look a lot better to me than the Java 5 ones.

Well, this comparison point certainly helped to persuade Microsoft
management to do the feature. :-)  

> What I didn't notice while looking at the F# docs was a 
> way to declare a generic function/value, where by "generic" 
> here I mean in the GCaml/CLOS sense, not the Java/Ada sense. 
> Is something like that in F#, or planned?

Yes and no, though the topic often comes up.  Currently, operators are
overloaded through a statically-resolved version of Ada-style trait
constraints, which works well enough in practice.

Haskell-style type classes or the proposed default parameters for Scala
are other possible design points. These are a little less compelling
when you can't redesign the whole .NET library design to take advantage
of the feature, but still potentially worthwhile.

Best wishes,
Don


-----Original Message-----
From: caml-list-bounces@yquem.inria.fr
[mailto:caml-list-bounces@yquem.inria.fr] On Behalf Of brogoff
Sent: 15 November 2006 01:01
To: caml-list@yquem.inria.fr
Subject: RE: [Caml-list] parameterized pattern

On Tue, 14 Nov 2006, Don Syme wrote:
> > I just did a quick scan of some F# docs and
> > I saw nothing. What did you have in mind?
>
> .NET type parameters are extensional, i.e. "you can always find out
what
> 'a is at runtime".  In particular in C# you can just write
"typeof(T)",
> and in F# "(type 'a)", in each case getting a System.Type value.
> Supporting exact runtime types was a design decision we made in the
> early design stages for .NET generics.

As a mostly Java programmer now, I have to say I'm a bit envious. C#
generics
look a lot better to me than the Java 5 ones.

What I didn't notice while looking at the F# docs was a way to declare
a generic function/value, where by "generic" here I mean in the
GCaml/CLOS
sense, not the Java/Ada sense. Is something like that in F#, or planned?

-- Brian

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