fml

A small ML-family language implemented from scratch in F#.

Overview

fml is a statically typed, functional mini-ML. It has full Hindley-Milner type inference (Algorithm W) with let-polymorphism, algebraic data types and records, exhaustive pattern matching, first-class functions and a small module system. Programs run on either of two back ends that share the same runtime values: a tree-walking interpreter and a bytecode compiler paired with a stack virtual machine. The test suite uses the two engines as an oracle for each other — every program must evaluate to the same value on both.

Features

Lexer — a hand-written tokenizer with nested block comments, string escapes and type-variable syntax.
Parser — a recursive-descent parser with precedence climbing for expressions, patterns, type declarations (variants and records), and struct ... end modules with open.
Type inference — Hindley-Milner with unification over mutable type cells, the level-based generalization trick (Rémy / OCaml), the occurs check, and Algorithm W with full let-polymorphism.
Algebraic data types and records — user-declared parametric variants and record types, checked and inferred throughout.
Pattern matching — normalization to a uniform constructor form, Maranget's usefulness algorithm for exhaustiveness and redundancy (with a rendered counterexample), and a decision-tree compiler.
Two back ends — a tree-walking interpreter and a stack-machine compiler with a de Bruijn environment, closures, tail calls and recursive knot-tying.
Standard library — Option, Result, List and Map modules written in fml itself and loaded on demand.
Tooling — a REPL and a file runner.

Usage

# start the REPL
dotnet run --project src/Fml.Cli

# run a source file
dotnet run --project src/Fml.Cli examples/demo.fml

In the REPL, enter an expression or a definition; each result is printed as val <name> : <type> = <value>. Press Ctrl-D to quit.

fml> let rec fact = fun n -> if n <= 1 then 1 else n * fact (n - 1) ;; fact 5
val fact : int -> int = <fun>
val it : int = 120

Tests

dotnet test

The tests cover inference of polymorphic terms, type-error detection, evaluation, exhaustiveness and redundancy checking, the standard library, and an oracle that asserts the interpreter and the bytecode VM agree on a range of programs (recursion, higher-order functions, ADTs, records and modules).

Project structure

src/Fml.Core   the language: lexer, parser, types, inference, backends
src/Fml.Cli    the REPL and file runner
tests          xUnit test suite
examples       sample fml programs

Requirements

.NET 6 SDK (F#)

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fml