Summary

Get Programming with F#: A guide for .NET Developers shows you how to upgrade your .NET development skills by adding a touch of functional programming in F#. In just 43 bite-sized chunks, you'll learn how to use F# to tackle the most common .NET programming tasks. Examples use the familiar Visual Studio environment, so you'll be instantly comfortable. Packed with enlightening examples, real-world use cases, and plenty of easy-to-digest code, this easy-to-follow tutorial will make you wonder why you didn't pick up F# years ago! Forewords by Dustin Campbell of Microsoft and Tomas Petricek of fsharpWorks.

About the Technology

Your .NET applications need to be good for the long haul. F#'s unique blend of functional and imperative programming is perfect for writing code that performs flawlessly now and keeps running as your needs grow and change. It takes a little practice to master F#'s functional-first style, so you may as well get programming!

About the Book

Get Programming with F#: A guide for .NET developers teaches F# through 43 example-based lessons with built-in exercises so you can learn the only way that really works: by practicing. The book upgrades your .NET skills with a touch of functional programming in F#. You'll pick up core FP principles and learn techniques for iron-clad reliability and crystal clarity. You'll discover productivity techniques for coding F# in Visual Studio, functional design, and integrating functional and OO code.

What's Inside

• Learn how to write bug-free programs
• Turn tedious common tasks into quick and easy ones
• Use minimal code to work with JSON, CSV, XML, and HTML data
• Integrate F# with your existing C# and VB.NET applications
• Create web-enabled applications

About the Reader

Written for intermediate C# and Visual Basic .NET developers. No experience with F# is assumed.

Table of Contents

Unit 1 - F# AND VISUAL STUDIO

Lesson 1 - The Visual Studio experience

Lesson 2 - Creating your first F# program

Lesson 3 - The REPL-changing how we develop

Unit 2 - HELLO F#

Lesson 4 - Saying a little, doing a lot

Lesson 5 - Trusting the compiler

Lesson 6 - Working with immutable data

Lesson 7 - Expressions and statements

Lesson 8 Capstone 1

Unit 3 - TYPES AND FUNCTIONS

Lesson 9 - Shaping data with tuples

Lesson 10 - Shaping data with records

Lesson 11 - Building composable functions

Lesson 12 - Organizing code without classes

Lesson 13 - Achieving code reuse in F#

Lesson 14 - Capstone 2

Unit 4 - COLLECTIONS IN F#

Lesson 15 - Working with collections in F#

Lesson 16 - Useful collection functions

Lesson 17 - Maps, dictionaries, and sets

Lesson 18 - Folding your way to success

Lesson 19 - Capstone 3

Unit 5 - THE PIT OF SUCCESS WITH THE F# TYPE SYSTEM

Lesson 20 - Program flow in F#

Lesson 21 - Modeling relationships in F#

Lesson 22 - Fixing the billion-dollar mistake

Lesson 23 - Business rules as code

Lesson 24 - Capstone 4

Unit 6 - LIVING ON THE .NET PLATFORM

Lesson 25 - Consuming C# from F#

Lesson 26 - Working with NuGet packages

Lesson 27 - Exposing F# types and functionsto C#

Lesson 28 - Architecting hybrid language applications

Lesson 29 - Capstone 5

Unit 7 - WORKING WITH DATA

Lesson 30 - Introducing type providers

Lesson 31 - Building schemas from live data

Lesson 32 - Working with SQL

Lesson 33 - Creating type provider-backed APIs

Lesson 34 - Using type providers in the real world

Lesson 35 - Capstone 6

Unit 8 - WEB PROGRAMMING

Lesson 36 - Asynchronous workflows

Lesson 37 - Exposing data over HTTP

Lesson 38 - Consuming HTTP data

Lesson 39 - Capstone 7

Unit 9 - UNIT TESTING

Lesson 40 - Unit testing in F#

Lesson 41 - Property-based testing in F#

Lesson 42 - Web testing

Lesson 43 - Capstone 8

Unit 10 - WHERE NEXT?

Appendix A - The F# community

Appendix B - F# in my organization

Appendix C - Must-visit F# resources

Appendix D - Must-have F# libraries

Appendix E - Other F# language feature

About the Author

Isaac Abraham is an F# MVP and a .NET developer since .NET 1.0 with an interest in cloud computing and distributed data problems. He lives in both the UK and Germany, and is the director of Compositional IT.