This is a fork of Moscow ML 2.01 onto which it is the plan to add a backend for the LLVM system and then extend Standard ML with some new ideas.
Jesper Louis Andersen - 2008,2009.
Currently, we are pretty far from a working system. We have chosen to implement a representation of the LLVM ASCII assembler format for SML. This is the most ML-idiomatic way to work with LLVM I think, though it a different path than the OCaml bindings for LLVM.
We still need a compilation from the internal Lambda IR to LLVM and probably a closure conversion phase as well. After that we need to build glue.
Use UNIX tools all the way. We want a pipeline of commands, not some big buildsystem built into the REPL. Use Autotools. Prefer sh(1) for scripting and Python if it is more expensive.
- Handle the win32 implementation separately.
- Kill old Macintosh code.
- Kill old MSDOS code.
- Kill the Threaded/Direct Jump compiler.
This is file README for Moscow ML 2.00 for Linux/Unix (June 2000)
The current version 2.00 of Moscow ML
- implements the full Standard ML language, as revised 1997, including Modules and some extensions
- yet is backwards compatible with versions prior to 2.00
- implements large parts of the new SML Basis Library
- implements separate compilation
- can produce compact stand-alone executables (a la Caml Light)
- supports quotations and antiquotations, useful for metaprogramming
- supports dynamic linking of external functions under Linux (x86 and Alpha), FreeBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, Digital Unix, HP-UX, MacOS, and MS Windows'95/98/NT
New in version 2.00 of Moscow ML
- The full SML Modules language (structures, signatures, and functors)
is now supported, thanks to Claudio Russo. Also, several extensions
to the SML Modules language are provided:
- higher-order functors: functors may be defined within structures and functors
- first-class modules: structures and functors may be packed and then handled as Core language values, which may then be unpacked as structures or functors again
- recursive modules: signatures and structures may be recursively defined
- Value polymorphism has become friendlier: non-generalizable free type variables are left free, and become instantiated (once only) when the bound variable is used
- Added facilities for creating and communicating with subprocesses (structure Unix and Signal from SML Basis Library).
- Added facilities for efficient functional generation of HTML code (structure Msp); also supports the writing of ML Server Page scripts.
- Added facilities setting and accessing `cookies' in CGI scripts (structure Mosmlcookie), thanks to Hans Molin, Uppsala, Sweden.
- The Gdimage structure now produces PNG images (using Thomas Boutell's gd library).
Compilation under Unix is best done using GNU make, gcc, and Perl. A binary installation requires 5 MB disk space; a source installation requires 25 MB disk space.
Documentation files:
- install.txt : Installation instructions for Linux
- README : This file
- doc/manual.pdf : User manual (PDF format)
- doc/mosmlref.pdf : A compact guide to Moscow ML syntax and primitives
- doc/mosmllib.pdf : Moscow ML library documentation with an index
- doc/mosmllib/*.html : Moscow ML library documentation in HTML format
Executables:
- bootstrap : Bytecode to bootstrap the compiler
Source files:
- compiler : The compiler
- runtime : The C-based caml-light runtime
- mosmlyac : The ML yacc compiler
- mosmllib : The standard library
- smllib_* : Dynamically loadable libraries
- regression : The regression framework, imported from MLton
- scripts : Shell scripts working as compiler drivers