doc/guide/localhost/MLBasis

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  26 <h1>MLBasis</h1>
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  28 <div id="content">
  29 <div id="preamble">
  30 <div class="sectionbody">
  31 <div class="paragraph"><p>The ML Basis system extends <a href="StandardML">Standard ML</a> to support
  32 programming-in-the-very-large, namespace management at the module
  33 level, separate delivery of library sources, and more.  While Standard
  34 ML modules are a sophisticated language for programming-in-the-large,
  35 it is difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish a number of routine
  36 namespace management operations when a program draws upon multiple
  37 libraries provided by different vendors.</p></div>
  38 <div class="paragraph"><p>The ML Basis system is a simple, yet powerful, approach that builds
  39 upon the programmer&#8217;s intuitive notion (and
  40 <a href="DefinitionOfStandardML"> The Definition of Standard ML (Revised)</a>'s
  41 formal notion) of the top-level environment (a <em>basis</em>).  The system
  42 is designed as a natural extension of <a href="StandardML"> Standard ML</a>; the
  43 formal specification of the ML Basis system
  44 (<a href="MLBasis.attachments/mlb-formal.pdf"><span class="monospaced">mlb-formal.pdf</span></a>) is given in the style
  45 of the Definition.</p></div>
  46 <div class="paragraph"><p>Here are some of the key features of the ML Basis system:</p></div>
  47 <div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
  48 <li>
  49 <p>
  50 Explicit file order: The order of files (and, hence, the order of
  51 evaluation) in the program is explicit.  The ML Basis system&#8217;s
  52 semantics are structured in such a way that for any well-formed
  53 project, there will be exactly one possible interpretation of the
  54 project&#8217;s syntax, static semantics, and dynamic semantics.
  55 </p>
  56 </li>
  57 <li>
  58 <p>
  59 Implicit dependencies: A source file (corresponding to an SML
  60 top-level declaration) is elaborated in the environment described by
  61 preceding declarations.  It is not necessary to explicitly list the
  62 dependencies of a file.
  63 </p>
  64 </li>
  65 <li>
  66 <p>
  67 Scoping and renaming: The ML Basis system provides mechanisms for
  68 limiting the scope of (i.e, hiding) and renaming identifiers.
  69 </p>
  70 </li>
  71 <li>
  72 <p>
  73 No naming convention for finding the file that defines a module.
  74 To import a module, its defining file must appear in some ML Basis
  75 file.
  76 </p>
  77 </li>
  78 </ol></div>
  79 </div>
  80 </div>
  81 <div class="sect1">
  82 <h2 id="_next_steps">Next steps</h2>
  83 <div class="sectionbody">
  84 <div class="ulist"><ul>
  85 <li>
  86 <p>
  87 <a href="MLBasisSyntaxAndSemantics">MLBasisSyntaxAndSemantics</a>
  88 </p>
  89 </li>
  90 <li>
  91 <p>
  92 <a href="MLBasisExamples">MLBasisExamples</a>
  93 </p>
  94 </li>
  95 <li>
  96 <p>
  97 <a href="MLBasisPathMap">MLBasisPathMap</a>
  98 </p>
  99 </li>
 100 <li>
 101 <p>
 102 <a href="MLBasisAnnotations">MLBasisAnnotations</a>
 103 </p>
 104 </li>
 105 <li>
 106 <p>
 107 <a href="MLBasisAvailableLibraries">MLBasisAvailableLibraries</a>
 108 </p>
 109 </li>
 110 </ul></div>
 111 </div>
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