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The ML language

ML is a functional language which, unlike conventional (procedural) languages, is mathematically "pure". Assignment to variables is not possible; a variable is defined as in mathematics as being equal to a particular value, so a statement such as "X = X + 1" would make no sense, as there is no value of X which is equal to X + 1. There are also no explicit control flow operations (loops, goto statements and so on); recursive function definitions are used to achieve the same effect.

Development tools:

	Moscow ML, a free ML implementation for DOS
	Caml Light, a free ML implementation for Windows 95/NT (or Windows 3.1 if you've installed Win32s)
	An older version of Caml Light for DOS on 386 and later processors
	Objective Caml, an object-oriented version of Caml for Windows 95/NT from INRIA

Tutorials and FAQs:

	A Gentle Introduction to ML
	The Moscow ML Language Overview
	The ML FAQ
	The Functional Programming FAQ

Reference materials:

	The Moscow ML Owner's Manual
	A quick reference guide to the syntax of ML
	A list of ML functions
	The Objective Caml User's Guide

External resources:

	Information about Standard ML at the Fox Project at CMU
	Information about Standard ML of New Jersey
	The Caml home page
	The Moscow ML home page
	Harlequin's MLWorks implementation
	ML links at Yahoo (or at Yahoo UK)
	The newsgroup comp.lang.ml