Comment by 7thaccount 3 days ago
F# is beautiful, but I could never crack the nut and get fluent in it. I think the big problem is I only know a little C#, so it is difficult to figure out the object oriented methods that F# depends on. It was the same thing with Clojure and Scala for the JVM. I have zero interest in first learning C# or Java, just to use those platforms.
I'm aware, but you need to understand the .NET ecosystem to get anything practical done (at least when I was using it in 2017). All the books written on it (I own 3) are also the same way and assume you're a skilled C# dev.
100% this, I spent many months going through the most recent books on F# including one which the latest version was only released last year I think.
They all seem to try and shield you from the fact that you are much better placed if coming from C# (which everyone seems to refer to as .net these days) and have a solid understanding of the .net class library.
All the main web frameworks sit on top of asp.net and pretty much all official documentation for that is in c#
Such a shame because I learnt so much about types from trying to crack f# for real world application. fsharpforfunandprofit taught me heaps which I apply to other languages, but I don't want to become a c# developer which comes with all the years of changing best practices to be able to really be productive in f#.
Sorry if I am coming across as bitter but I just can't see learning f# in isolation from c# which is an absolute shame.
What is the issue with learning C# alongside it, if only the bits necessary to improve the F# experience? Both are excellent languages.
They are both excellent languages, I just literally don't have the time to commit to do that at the moment.
I think if I ever have time for another go I would learn enough to be proficient in c# before diving back in.
One way to look at it, but consuming OOP libraries doesn't turn code into OOP.
Also, FSharp.Core (which most F# code leans heavily on) is not OOP at all.
F# promotes object programming, doesn't proscribe mutability, encourages function and data approach.
It offers simple access to the different paradigms, with some opinionated choices (e.g. preventing leaning on OOP beyond an arbitrary stretch, like no "protected", only explicit interface implementation, etc.).
Why not? It does it very well, better than C# in my opinion. At least that was the case ten years ago when I last used C# and played with F#.
oop is just another tool in your toolbox; if f# provides it and it's the best way to express a given algorithm you should definitely go ahead and use it. oop got a bad name due to people trying to shoehorn it into places it was not the best way to express something, and it seems like you're making the inverse mistake here.
> It was the same thing with Clojure and Scala for the JVM. I have zero interest in first learning C# or Java, just to use those platforms.
FWIW, I managed to learn Clojure without knowing anything from Java/JVM before diving into it. I did have plenty of JS experience which made ClojureScript easier to pick up I suppose, but Java works more or less the same as every other Algol-like and/or OOP language out there so if you have any previous experience with something like that, basic Java is trivial to pick up even accidentally.