Written by a well-known computer science education and researcher. No previous knowledge of ML or functional programming is assumed. This is the first book that offers BOTH a highly accessible, step-by-step introductory tutorial on ML programming and a complete reference to, and explanation of, advanced features. The author uses a wide variety of digestible program exa Written by a well-known computer science education and researcher. No previous knowledge of ML or functional programming is assumed.
This is the first book that offers BOTH a highly accessible, step-by-step introductory tutorial on ML programming and a complete reference to, and explanation of, advanced features. The author uses a wide variety of digestible program examples to bring the reader along at a reasonable pace. More sophisticated programs and advanced concept topics balance out a book that is usable in a number of courses and settings for either self-study or class discussion. I wish I learned Standard ML later.
I also wish there was a newer edition of this book.It's not a bad book to learn Standard ML from. You could understand most of it without having to run smlnj, and for the most part, it was a pleasant read.
ML ('Meta Language') is a general-purpose functional programming language.It has roots in Lisp, and has been characterized as 'Lisp with types'. citation needed It is known for its use of the polymorphic Hindley–Milner type system, which automatically assigns the types of most expressions without requiring explicit type annotations, and ensures type safety – there is a formal proof that.
However:. It's an old book and it's typeset pretty horribly. I guess it's OK for 1997, but it's annoying to read it it 22 years later. It tries a bit too hard to bridge in C/C developers, instead of just jumping in the functional waters head first. Occas I wish I learned Standard ML later.
I also wish there was a newer edition of this book.It's not a bad book to learn Standard ML from. You could understand most of it without having to run smlnj, and for the most part, it was a pleasant read. However:.
It's an old book and it's typeset pretty horribly. I guess it's OK for 1997, but it's annoying to read it it 22 years later. It tries a bit too hard to bridge in C/C developers, instead of just jumping in the functional waters head first. Occasionally there are some really lengthy explanations for some really obvious code that just get in the way. It ends up with a definition of the syntax of ML that's just a bit awkward to read. You may infer the language from it if you think hardly enough, but examples would have been better.Apart from all that, it's a pretty decent book. One thing that I particularly enjoyed was the exercises – occasionally there was something cool to learn in them, like 2-3 trees.
.Elements of ML Programming, ML97 Edition, 2nd Edition. DescriptionFor sophomore through graduate level courses covering an introduction to the fundamentals of ML programming or as a supplement for programming languages, functional programming, or compiler courses.Written by renowned computer science educator and researcher Jeffrey Ullman, this text assumes no previous knowledge of ML or functional programming. This second edition has been heavily revised and updated using ML 97.
This is the first book that offers BOTH a highly accessible, step-by-step introductory tutorial on ML programming and a complete explanation of advanced features. The author uses a wide variety of program examples to show how ML can be used in a variety of applications. More sophisticated programs and advanced concepts make this book usable in a number of courses for self-study or class discussion.