Standard ML, also known as Standard Meta Language, or SML, is a general-purpose, modular, functional programming language used by compiler writers and programming language researchers.
Released in 1983, Standard ML is a modern dialect of ML, inspired by some fundamental concepts of computer science, making them available directly to the programmer. Specifically, within SML, trees and other recursive datatypes may be declared and used without mention of pointers. Functions are values in SML. Functions can take functions as arguments, and return functions as results. Type polymorphism makes it possible to declare functions whose type depends on the context.
In SML, there is an emphasis on safety, through the soundness of Standard ML type discipline, and through the fact that SML implementations use automatic memory management, which does not permit premature deallocation of memory
Standard ML includes references, arrays, input-output, a modules system, libraries, and compilers, making it suitable for use in large-scale applications. SML is also used for teaching and in research, particularly theorem proving, compiler technology, and program analysis.
The focus of this guide is on Standard Meta Language, also known as Standard ML or abbreviated as SML. Websites about the language itself are appropriate for this category, as are those whose topics include any IDEs, editors, or other tools designed to facilitate programming in SML, as well as tutorials, guides, user groups, or forums.
Recommended Resources
GitHub: The Standard ML Language Family
A subsidiary of Microsoft, GitHub provides hosting for software development version control using Git, offering the distributed version control and source code management and adding its own features. The Standard ML family of programming languages are featured here, including largely Standard ML itself, as well as Successor-ML, and related resources, such as definitions, and a repository and wiki for enriching the SML Basis Library. Contributors are acknowledged.
https://github.com/SMLFamily/
The University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics offers a tutorial on Standard ML, first presented in 1997, but revised in 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2004. Introducing important concepts in the Standard ML programming language, and illustrating them with examples, the tutorial is available online, in a PostScript file, or in a PDF file, with the PDF version containing an extra chapter not available in the online version. The online version may be read from start to finish or by chapter.
http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/stg/NOTES/notes.html
Scholarpedia: Standard ML Language
The peer-reviewed open-access encyclopedia offers an overview of the programming language, with sections on what it is used for, language definitions, and a discussion on compiler technology that includes type checking, code generation, runtime memory management, and separate compilation, libraries, and tools. The history of Standard ML is presented, along with related languages, references, and suggestions for further reading, and links to other resources.
http://scholarpedia.org/article/Standard_ML_language
Standard ML Family GitHub Project
Also known as the SMLFamily, the project site features online versions of various formal definitions of Standard ML, including the Definition of Standard ML, Revised, as well as supporting coordination between different implementations of the SML programming language, maintaining common resources, such as documentation, and a history section devoted to the history of ML, and Standard ML in particular, but also include close cousins of the SML Family.
http://sml-family.org/
SML/NJ is a compiler for the Standard ML 97 programming language, including associated libraries, tools, and documentation. Free and open-source, it may be downloaded from the site. Download and installation instructions are put forth for all available versions, including the most recent release. The background of the language is featured, along with documentation and other literature, bug report instructions, and a photo of the cast of people involved in the project.
http://www.smlnj.org/
