With the unofficial slogan “solving complex problems with simple code,” the F# programming language is designed to make functional programming accessible to legions of developers.

“The Book of F#” (http://tinyurl.com/myzbw44) is a new guide to F# that lets readers familiar with languages like Java or C# join a community of developers who are already using F# to solve their tricky programming problems. In the book, author Dave Fancher brings 10 years of .NET development and his experience as a Microsoft MVP to the table. Readers will learn how to:

° Exploit F#’s functional nature using currying, partial application, and delegation;

° Streamline type creation and safety with record types and discriminated unions;

° Use collection types and modules to handle data sets more effectively;

° Use pattern matching to decompose complex types and branch code within a single expression;

° Make software more responsive with parallel programming and asynchronous workflows;

° Harness object orientation to develop rich frameworks and interact with code written in other .NET languages;

° Use query expressions and type providers to access and manipulate data sets from disparate sources.

The 312-page “The Book of F#” was written to help coders everywhere make sense of this sometimes-tricky language. Fancher has been developing software with the .NET Framework for more than a decade. He is a familiar face in the Indiana development community as both a speaker and participant in user groups around the state.

“The Book of F#” costs US$44.95 for the print edition, and $35.95 for the ebook version.