Standard ML Family GitHub Project

This is the web page for the Standard ML Family GitHub project (organization name: SMLFamily). This site is very much "under construction", and it replaces the earlier SourceForge web site for standardml.org (which now redirects to this page). Contributions, corrections, and suggestions for additional information are very much welcomed.

Project Description

The Standard ML Family project provides a home for online versions of various formal definitions of Standard ML, including the "Definition of Standard ML, Revised" (Standard ML 97). The site also supports coordination between different implementations of the Standard ML (SML) programming language by maintaining common resources such as the documentation for the Standard ML Basis Library and standard test suites. The goal is to increase compatibility and resource sharing between Standard ML implementations.

The site includes a history section devoted to the history of ML, and of Standard ML in particular. This section will contain a collection of original source documents relating to the design of the language.

Definitions of Standard ML

With the permission of MIT Press, we are able to make The Definition of Standard ML (SML '90) and The Definition of Standard ML, Revised (SML '97) available for downloading as pdf files. These are (currently) formatted for US letter page size. Printed copies of the SML '97 definition are available from MIT Press.

The SML '90 definition is complete, including the index, but we are still working on recreating the index for the SML '97 definition.

The sources to the two editions of The Definition are available on GitHub as follows: The Standard ML Basis Library: Claudio Russo's Non-Standard ML is available on GitHub at Non-Standard ML.

The Concrete Syntax of Standard ML:

Some valuable critiques of The Definitions: Machine-checked meta-theory of Standard ML: Language design critiques and reviews:
  • A Critique of Standard ML by Andrew Appel, Princeton CS-TR-364-92, Nov 1992. Also published in Journal of Functional Programming, 3,4, 1993, pp. 391-429.
  • Reflections on Standard ML by David MacQueen. Published in "Functional Programming, Concurrency, Simulation and Automated Reasoning", Peter Lauer, Editor, Springer-Verlag LNCS Vol 693, 1994, pp. 32-46.
Both of these design critiques are somewhat outdated because they predate the revised Definition.

Mailing lists

The SourceForge project hosts two mailing lists relating to Standard ML. Visit the info page for a list to subscribe.
Name: sml-implementers
Address: sml-implementers@lists.sourceforge.net
Info: http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/sml-implementers
Subscribers: http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/roster/sml-implementers

Name: sml-list
Address: sml-list@lists.sourceforge.net
Info: http://lists.sourceforge.net/mailman/listinfo/sml-list
Subscribers: http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/roster/sml-list

Successor ML

Recently discussions of improvements and extensions of the Standard ML design have resumed, under the working title "Successor ML". This project includes a subsidiary site Successor ML devoted to this ongoing work. Earlier discussions on the successor-ml.org wiki are available there, and a new wiki has been started for future discussions.

Implementations, Extensions, and Variations of Standard ML

  • Standard ML of New Jersey (SML/NJ)

    A free, open-source implementation of SML '97 that generates native code for a broad range of platforms.

  • Moscow ML.

    With Version 2.0, now implements SML '97 (including modules) with some extensions.

  • MLj.

    Implements an SML '97 subset, compiling to the JVM with extensions for working with Java.
    [MLj has moved from Persimmon IT to Edinburgh.]

  • MLKit.

    Version 3 implements SML '97, uses region analysis for memory management.

  • SMLtoJs.

    A compiler from SML to JavaScript, based on MLKit.

  • SMLonline.

    Compile and run SML programs in the browser, based on SMLtoJs.

  • MLton.

    A whole-program optimizing SML Compiler. (SML '97)

  • Poly/ML, Dave Matthew's Standard ML Compiler.

    Formerly a product of Abstract, Inc., Poly/ML is now is now available as a free, open source implementation. Version 4 implements SML '97.

  • Poplog Standard ML.

    Now available as free software (SML '90).

  • TILT.

    A certifying compiler for Standard ML based on typed intermediate languages.

  • MLWorks

    Formerly a product of Harlequin, Ltd, ML Works is now a freely available, open-source system owned by Ravenbrook.

  • HaMLet

    A faithful interpreter for SML'97, written entirely in SML, as a direct translation of the formal language definition.

  • CakeML

    CakeML is a dialect of ML designed to be both easy to program in and easy to reason about formally in proof assistants for higher-order logic.

  • SML#

    SML# is a new programming language in the Standard ML family being developed at RIEC (Research Institute of Electrical Communication), Tohoku University . Its design goal is to provide practically important extensions while maintaining the compatibility of the Definition of Standard ML.

  • Alice ML

    An extension of SML with rich support for concurrent and distributed programming, e.g., futures, threads, higher-order marshalling (including code), and type-safe dynamic module import & export.

  • Manticore

    Manticore is a high-level parallel programming language aimed at general-purpose applications running on multi-core processors. Manticore supports parallelism at multiple levels: explicit concurrency and coarse-grain parallelism via CML-style constructs and fine-grain parallelism via various light-weight notations, such as parallel tuple expressions and NESL/Nepal-style parallel array comprehensions.

Standard ML smackage repository

The Standard ML Smackage repository is a resource of community contributed code.

The Standard ML History pages are the beginnings of a collection of documents related to the history of the development of Standard ML. This subsite is in the early stages of development, and contributions or suggestions are welcome.

Close Cousins of the SML Family

  • OCaml

    OCaml is an industrial strength programming language supporting functional, imperative and object-oriented styles. It is a close relative of the SML family that is enjoying considerable adoption in industry, and inspiring new dialects in the ML family, such as F#.

  • F#

    F# is a mature, open source, cross-platform, functional-first programming language which empowers users and organizations to tackle complex computing problems with simple, maintainable and robust code. Originally derived from O'Caml, F# is a full-scale industrial-strength language in the ML family that is now open source.

  • Yeti

    Yeti is ML style functional programming language, that runs on the JVM.

Other relevant links

  • Existential Type, Bob Harper's Blog on topics including SML, type theory, logic, proof.
  • SMLserver: Serve the web with Standard ML.

Dave MacQueen
Last modified: Mon Sep 7 17:22:16 PDT 2015