Recommendations for book on ML?

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3 total messages Started by Michial Gunter Wed, 22 Jul 1992 08:14

Author: Michial Gunter
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 08:14

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I am a novice looking to learn ML.

I know of the following books on ML:

ML Primer
ML for the Working Programmer
Definition of Standard ML  (or something along these lines)
Commentary on the Definition

Are there others?

I would like comments the relative merits of all of the above. (Do any of the
other books make the Definition unnecessary?)

I am happy to get any amout of interesting commentary on the language,
but require a good reference and a good introduction to the idioms of
the language.

Note: I tend to favor very dense language texts. (I learned C++ from the ARM
--- I found it only the slightest bit too dense).  


			thanks,
			mike

Re: Recommendations for book on ML?

Author: Dave Berry
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 13:30

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THE DEFINITION.

Robin Milner, Mads Tofte and Robert Harper
The Definition of Standard ML
MIT, 1990.
ISBN: 0-262-63132-6

Robin Milner and Mads Tofte
Commentary on Standard ML
MIT, 1991
ISBN: 0-262-63137-7

The Commentary is a companion to the definition.  It explains some of
the design choices and some delicate parts of the Definition.  It also
presents some properties of the language, with the associated proofs.


TEXTS.

The first book is quite slow-paced and is aimed at people learning to program.
It doesn't cover the modules system.

Ake Wikstrom
Functional Programming Using Standard ML
Prentice Hall 1987
ISBN: 0-13-331661-0


The second book goes at a faster pace, and includes an introduction to the
modules system.  It also includes sections on denotational semantics,
lambda calculus and implementation techniques.  Some programs from the text
are available from the LFCS (see the Introduction).

Chris Reade
Elements of Functional Programming
Addison-Wesley 1989
ISBN: 0-201-12915-9


The next book is paced similarly to Reade's, and also includes an
introduction to the modules system.  It includes examples of writing
interpreters for the lambda calculus and of a tactical theroem prover.
Some programs from the text are available from the LFCS (see the Introduction).
A second printing (with corrections) is expected in July/August 1992.

Lawrence C Paulson
ML for the Working Programmer
Cambridge University Press 1991
ISBN: 0-521-39022-2
      0-521-42225-6 (pbk.)


The last book is probably the most advanced.  It stresses the use of higher
order functions, and sets out to suggest possibilities that the reader
might not have considered.

Stefan Sokolowski
Applicative High Order Programming: The Standard ML perspective
Chapman & Hall 1991
ISBN: 0-412-39240-2     0-442-30838-8 (USA)


Prentice-Hall have a new book coming out, but I don't know all the details
yet.

The following report is available from the LFCS (Dorothy McKie,
dam@ecsvax.ed.ac.uk) and costs 5 pounds or 10 US dollars.  It covers all of
Standard ML.

Robert Harper
Introduction to Standard ML
LFCS Report Series  ECS-LFCS-86-14
Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science
Department of Computer Science
University of Edinburgh
Nov. 1986 (revised Jan. 1989 by Nick Rothwell and Kevin Mitchell)


The following report is available from the LFCS (Dorothy McKie,
dam@ecsvax.ed.ac.uk) and costs 2.50 pounds or 5 US dollars for single
copies and 1.50 pounds or 3 dollars when bought in bulk.  It includes
an introduction to Standard ML and 3 lectures on the modules system.
Some programs from the text are available from the LFCS (see the Introduction).

Mads Tofte
Four Lectures on Standard ML
LFCS Report Series  ECS-LFCS-89-73
Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science
Department of Computer Science
University of Edinburgh
March 1989


The following report is available from the LFCS (Dorothy McKie,
dam@ecsvax.ed.ac.uk) and is free.  It introduces Extended ML, a language
for writing (non-executable) specifications of Standard ML programs and
for formally developing Standard ML programs from such specifications.
See also the WORK IN PROGRESS section, below.

Don Sannella
Formal program development in Extended ML for the working programmer.
LFCS Report Series  ECS-LFCS-89-102
Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science
Department of Computer Science
University of Edinburgh
December 1989


Bernard Sufrin has a book on Standard ML in preparation.

Ryan Stansifer has written a book called "An ML Primer".
--
        What would you say if I said that I'm not from Edinburgh after all,
	but from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse?

Re: Recommendations for book on ML?

#10

Author: Michial Gunter
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 00:46

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In article <39707@skye.dcs.ed.ac.uk> db@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Berry) writes:

   [Comments about various books on ML deleted]

   The following report is available from the LFCS (Dorothy McKie,
   dam@ecsvax.ed.ac.uk) and costs 5 pounds or 10 US dollars.  It covers all of
   Standard ML.

   Robert Harper
   Introduction to Standard ML
   LFCS Report Series  ECS-LFCS-86-14
   Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science
   Department of Computer Science
   University of Edinburgh
   Nov. 1986 (revised Jan. 1989 by Nick Rothwell and Kevin Mitchell)


This ia available for anon ftp(free!) from in:
	princeton.edu:/pub/ml/incoming/harper-notes.



		mike

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