In the Age of Web: Typed Functional-First Programming Revisited

TL;DR

This paper examines how typed functional programming languages, specifically F#, adapt to the web's dynamic environment by addressing challenges like asynchronous communication, untyped data, and external integrations.

Contribution

It demonstrates how F# leverages type providers, meta-programming, and computation expressions to meet web-related challenges, highlighting the importance of a holistic approach.

Findings

F# effectively integrates external data sources using type providers.

Lightweight meta-programming enables targeting JavaScript.

Computation expressions simplify asynchronous programming.

Abstract

Most programming languages were designed before the age of web. This matters because the web changes many assumptions that typed functional language designers take for granted. For example, programs do not run in a closed world, but must instead interact with (changing and likely unreliable) services and data sources, communication is often asynchronous or event-driven, and programs need to interoperate with untyped environments. In this paper, we present how the F# language and libraries face the challenges posed by the web. Technically, this comprises using type providers for integration with external information sources and for integration with untyped programming environments, using lightweight meta-programming for targeting JavaScript and computation expressions for writing asynchronous code. In this inquiry, the holistic perspective is more important than each of the features in isolation. We use a practical case study as a starting point and look at how F# language and libraries approach the challenges posed by the web. The specific lessons learned are perhaps less interesting than our attempt to uncover hidden assumptions that no longer hold in the age of web.