为什么ML语言（F＃）与C语言（C＃）相比有这么多不同的运算符？

Question

It looks like it has several times more operators:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd233228.aspx

vs

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6a71f45d.aspx

Is this simply the price to pay to make language look "succinct" or historical ML roots?

Answer 1

I'm not sure that looking at the two lists from MSDN necessarily gives a fair comparison. Note that the F# table lists anything where a symbolic character is used as part of an expression - this includes things like string literals " , comments /// , pre-processor directives # , quotations, syntax for generics and many others. On the other hand, the C# reference only lists operators (though there are a few keywords too).

It is true that F# has a few more operators than C#, but I don't think the difference is as huge as you might think. The most notable are:

• Operators for working with functions like >> and |> (and variations on those)
• Operators for working with lists like :: (prepend element) and @ (concatenation)

• Operators for dealing with nullable values (many with ? on some side), though I think of these more as workarounds to enable LINQ interop than fundamental operators of F#

• There are a few operators for mutable ref cells := and ! - I think these are mainly ML heritage and you don't really need them as often.

So, I think the main thing is that F# just has a few more data types that are at the core of functional programming and it has operators for working with them (especially functions and lists). On the other hand, a couple of the things from the C# list ( typeof , sizeof , delegate and also += and such are either functions in F# or are not needed at all).