The ML language

ML (which stands for Meta-Language) is a functional language which, unlike conventional (procedural) languages, is mathematically "pure". Assignment to variables in the way that it is done in procedural languages is not possible; a variable is defined as in mathematics as being equal to a particular value, so a statement such as "X = X + 1" would make no sense, as there is no value of X which is equal to X + 1. There are also no explicit control flow operations (loops, goto statements and so on); recursive function definitions are used to achieve the same effect.

A number of dialects of ML have evolved, including Standard ML (SML), CAML, Objective CAML, and so on. ML is a "strict" language, unlike "lazy" languages such as Haskell, although lazy ML dialects (e.g. Lazy SML) also exist.

Development tools:

	Harlequin MLWorks The personal edition of Harlequin's commercial ML implementation.    ¤  Sep 1998. Reproduced by permission; NOT REDISTRIBUTABLE without the express permission of Harlequin. Home site: http://www.harlequin.com/
	Standard ML of New Jersey 110.0.7 A free implementation of Standard ML for Windows which includes Concurrent ML. Source code is also included.    ¤  Sep 2000. Freeware. Home site: http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/what/smlnj/index.html
	Moscow ML 2.0 A free implementation of ML for Windows. Source code is also available.    ¤  Aug 2000. Freeware. Home site: http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~sestoft/mosml.html
	Caml Light 7.4 A free ML implementation for Windows.    ¤  Dec 1997. Freeware. Home site: ftp://ftp.inria.fr/lang/caml-light/
	Objective Caml An object-oriented ML implementation for Windows from INRIA.    ¤  Jul 2001. Freeware. Home site: http://caml.inria.fr/

Tutorials and FAQs:

	A Gentle Introduction to ML An entertaining tutorial on functional programming in general, and ML in particular.    ¤  21 Apr 1999. Reproduced by permission. Home site: http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/course-notes/sml/manual.html
	The Moscow ML Owner's Manual A guide to installing and using the Moscow ML system.    ¤  Aug 1999. Freely redistributable. Home site: http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~sestoft/manual/manual.html
	The ML FAQ Questions and answers about ML from the newsgroup comp.lang.ml.    ¤  1 May 2000. Reproduced by permission. Home site: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/
	Introduction to Programming Langauges A comparative study of programming languages, their development and the development of the programming paradigms that they embody.    ¤  3 Aug 2001. Reproduced by permission. Home site: http://cs.wwc.edu/~aabyan/221_2/PLBOOK/
	The Functional Programming FAQ Questions and answers about functional programming in general.    ¤  1 Aug 2001. Reproduced by permission. Home site: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/Department/Staff/gmh/faq.html

Reference material:

	The Caml Light User's Guide The language reference manual and system documentation for the Caml Light system.    ¤  2 Dec 1997. Freely redistributable. Home site: http://pauillac.inria.fr/caml/man-caml/
	The Moscow ML Language Overview The reference manual for the subset of ML implemented by the Moscow ML system.    ¤  Aug 1999. Freely redistributable. Home site: http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~sestoft/mosmlref/mosmlref.html
	The Moscow ML Library Manual A reference summary for the standard library supported by Moscow ML.    ¤  2 Aug 2000. Freely redistributable. Home site: http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~sestoft/mosmllib/index.html
	The Objective Caml User's Guide Documentation for the Objective Caml system, giving a language overview and reference, documentation for the OCaml software system, and library documentation.    ¤  Jul 2001. Freely redistributable. Home site: http://pauillac.inria.fr/ocaml/htmlman/

External resources:

	The Caml home page
	The Moscow ML home page
	Information about Standard ML Information from the Fox Project at CMU.
	Information about Standard ML of New Jersey
	Harlequin, Inc. A company which provides a range of ML software and documentation, including a free ML implementation for Windows.
	ML links at Yahoo These are also available at Yahoo UK.
	The comp.lang.ml newsgroup A newsgroup for discussions of ML-related issues.
	The comp.functional newsgroup A good source of information about functional programming in general.