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F# Compiler, Core Library and Visual F# Tools Open Contribution Repository

This repo is where you can contribute to the F# compiler, core library and the Visual F# Tools. To learn what F# is and why it's interesting, go to fsharp.org. To get a free F# environment, go to fsharp.org.

Compiler Technical Documentation

The primary technical documents for the F# compiler code are

License

Contributions made to this repo are subject to terms and conditions of the Apache License, Version 2.0. A copy of the license can be found in the License.txt file at the root of this distribution. By using this source code in any fashion, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of the Apache License, Version 2.0. You must not remove this notice, or any other, from this software.

Questions? If you have questions about the source code, please ask in the issues.

0. A Shortcut to Build and Smoke Test

You can build a subset of functionality (including bootstrapped compiler and library) and run a very small number of 'smoke' tests using the script used by continuous integration on Windows:

.\appveyor-build.cmd

See the script for what this does. After you do this, you can do further testing, see TESTGUIDE.md.

1. Building a Proto Compiler

The compiler is compiled as a set of .NET 4.0 components using a bootstrap process. This uses the Last Known Good (LKG) compiler to build.
Note that you need the .NET framework 3.5 installed on your machine in order to complete this step.

msbuild src\fsharp-proto-build.proj

2. Building an F# (Debug) library and compiler

This uses the proto compiler to build FSharp.Core.dll, FSharp.Compiler.dll, fsc.exe, and fsi.exe.

msbuild src/fsharp-library-build.proj 
msbuild src/fsharp-compiler-build.proj

You can now use the updated F# compiler in debug\net40\bin\fsc.exe and F# Interactive in debug\net40\bin\fsi.exe to develop and test basic language and tool features.

Note: The updated library is not used until you run update.cmd, see below. The updated compiler is not run 'pre-compiled' until you run update.cmd -ngen, see below.

3. Full Steps Before Running Tests

See TESTGUIDE.md for full details on how to run tests.

Prior to a Debug test run, you need to complete all of these steps:

msbuild src/fsharp-proto-build.proj
msbuild src/fsharp-all-the-things.proj
src\update.cmd debug -ngen
tests\BuildTestTools.cmd debug

[Optional] If testing the Visual Studio bits (see below) you will also need:

msbuild vsintegration\fsharp-vsintegration-build.proj
msbuild vsintegration\fsharp-vsintegration-unittests-build.proj

Prior to a Release test run, you need to do all of these:

msbuild src/fsharp-all-the-things.proj /p:Configuration=Release
src\update.cmd release -ngen
tests\BuildTestTools.cmd release

[Optional] If testing Release build of the Visual F# IDE Tools (see below) you will also need:

msbuild vsintegration\fsharp-vsintegration-build.proj /p:Configuration=Release
msbuild vsintegration\fsharp-vsintegration-unittests-build.proj /p:Configuration=Release

4. [Optional] Install the Visual F# IDE Tools and Clobber the F# 4.0 SDK on the machine

Note: Step #3 will install a VSIX extension into Visual Studio 2015 that changes the Visual F# IDE Tools components installed into Visual Studio 2015. You can revert this step by disabling or uninstalling the addin.

Note: Step #4 will clobber the machine-wide installed F# 4.0 SDK on your machine. This replaces the fsi.exe/fsiAnyCpu.exe used by Visual F# Interactive and the fsc.exe used by Microsoft.FSharp.targets. Repairing Visual Studio 2015 is currently the only way to revert this step.

Note: After you complete the install, the FSharp.Core referenced by your projects will not be updated. If you want to make a project that references your updated FSharp.Core, you must explicitly change the TargetFSharpCoreVersion in the .fsproj file to 4.4.0.5099 (or a corresponding portable version number with suffix 5099).

For Debug:

  1. Ensure that the VSIX package is uninstalled. In VS, select Tools/Extensions and Updates and if the package VisualStudio.FSharp.EnableOpenSource is installed, select Uninstall
  2. Run debug\net40\bin\EnableOpenSource.vsix
  3. Run vsintegration\update-vsintegration.cmd debug (clobbers the installed F# 4.0 SDK)

For Release:

  1. Ensure that the VSIX package is uninstalled. In VS, select Tools/Extensions and Updates and if the package VisualStudio.FSharp.EnableOpenSource is installed, select Uninstall
  2. Run release\net40\bin\EnableOpenSource.vsix
  3. Run vsintegration\update-vsintegration.cmd release (clobbers the installed F# 4.0 SDK)

Restart Visual Studio, it should now be running your freshly-built Visual F# IDE Tools with updated F# Interactive.

Notes on the build

  1. The update.cmd script adds the built FSharp.Core to the GAC, adds required strong name validation skips, and NGens the compiler and libraries. This requires admin privileges.
  2. The compiler binaries produced are "private" and strong-named signed with a test key.
  3. Some additional tools are required to build the compiler, notably fslex.exe, fsyacc.exe, FSharp.PowerPack.Build.Tasks.dll, FsSrGen.exe, FSharp.SRGen.Build.Tasks.dll, and the other tools found in the lkg directory.
  4. The overall bootstrapping process executes as follows
  • We first need an existing F# compiler. We use the one in the lkg directory. Let's assume this compiler has an FSharp.Core.dll with version X.
  • We use this compiler to compile the source in this distribution, to produce a "proto" compiler, dropped to the proto directory. When run, this compiler still relies on FSharp.Core.dll with version X.
  • We use the proto compiler to compile the source for FSharp.Core.dll in this distribution.
  • We use the proto compiler to compile the source for FSharp.Compiler.dll, fsc.exe, fsi.exe, and other binaries found in this distribution.

Further technical resources

The primary technical guide to the core compiler code is The F# Compiler Technical Guide. Please read and contribute to that guide.