What You Need to Get Going

F# is “in the box” of Visual Studio 11. This includes the F# compiler and project system, and contains all the features (e.g., syntax highlighting and IntelliSense) that you would expect. Outside of Visual Studio and on non-Microsoft platforms, you can still write and deploy F# applications using the open source Mono platform.

If you are running F# on Windows, then Chapter 1 will show you how to get set up using Visual Studio. Otherwise, Appendix A will walk you through getting F# set up on non-Microsoft platforms.

Also, it is important to note that all of the examples printed in this book (as well as many more) may be found on GitHub. The best way to learn any new skill is to just start using it, so I highly recommended that you take a moment to fork and explore the repository for this book’s source code.