Brian's post on stackoverflow has a lot of great links.

There is also a newer SP 1 version of the shell: Visual Studio 2008 Shell (integrated mode) with Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package

I'm pretty sure that it requires .NET 3.5.

Either the F# September 2008 CTP (version 1.9.6.2; Microsoft F#, September 2008 Community Technology Preview) or the F# May 2009 CTP (version 1.9.6.16; Microsoft F#, May 2009 Community Technology Preview) will work with it.

If you intend to try some ASP.NET know that I've had some problems with 1.9.6.16 while 1.9.6.2 seems to work fine.

I've been able to get the Time, Time2, and Primes ASP.NET examples from Chapter 14 of "Expert F#" to work on Visual Web Developer 2008 Express SP1 by delegating the compilation and build of the F# CodeBehind class library to the fsc.exe compiler via a MSBuild (standard part of .NET 2.0 and 3.5) project file that is processed during the Pre-build event.

By on 7/10/2009 11:16 AM ()

"There is also a newer SP 1 version of the shell: Visual Studio 2008 Shell (integrated mode) with Service Pack 1 Redistributable Package"

I have some remarks here. Before installing Shell with SP1 this is what I've read in the eula.rtf:

"Microsoft Corporation (or based on where you live, one of its affiliates) licenses this supplement to you. If you are licensed to use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 software (the “software”), you may use this supplement. You may not use it if you do not have a license for the software. You may use this supplement with each validly licensed copy of the software"

From this it seems that you need to hold a license to Visual Studio 2008 in order to use the shell ... Am I missing something or indeed I cannot use this editions in order to produce non-commercial or commercial applications ?

PS: on the other side in another document that comes with it I can read the following:"1. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.
a. Installation and Use. One user may install and use any number of copies of the software on your devices to design, develop and test your programs.

b. Third Party Programs. The software is designed to be used in conjunction with third party programs. The license terms with those programs apply to your use of them. "

<!--[endif]-->

By on 7/13/2009 4:55 AM ()

"From this it seems that you need to hold a license to Visual Studio 2008 in order to use the shell ... Am I missing something or indeed I cannot use this editions in order to produce non-commercial or commercial applications ?"

Well, all editions of Visual Studio Express are "free" but they are still licensed once you activate them through Microsoft.

So once you activate a Visual Studio 2008 Express product you are in possession of a type of "Visual Studio 2008" license. Currently that license is good enough for you to purchase the cheaper upgrade versions (rather than the more expensive full versions) of Visual Studio 2008 Standard and Professional.

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition Upgrade

"To qualify for upgrade pricing, you must be a licensed user of an earlier version of Microsoft Visual Studio or any other developer tool (including free developer tools, such as Visual Studio Express Editions)."

During the Visual Studio Express activation you are actually being asked whether you intend to use the product for "Moonlighting", so there seems to be the expectation that some developers will use the Express tools for marginal profit.

So - for now - obtaining a license for a Visual Studio Express product may keep you covered. (Can't make a definitive statement as I'm not a lawyer)

Visual Studio Express Editions FAQ

If you do use the Visual Studio Shell for commercial development it would make sense to purchase a Visual Studio "commercial" license from your proceeds. And even in the non-commercial scenario the productivity enhancements and support for third party IDE Add-ins (such as ReSharper) may "justify" the purchase of an up-level version of Visual Studio.

Upgrading to Full Visual Studio

Now, when it comes to full blown F# development you have the option of using the Microsoft Pre-release Software Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 Community Technology Previews (CTP) to get you started until a retail version is available.

If you find the Microsoft EULAs too restrictive but want to use .NET then you may be constrained to products that are available in the Mono-space. I wouldn't necessarily count on future editions of F# being available on Mono - F# is no longer is a "mere" research product but a mainstream member of the Visual Studio language lineup starting with VS2010.

By on 7/13/2009 10:01 AM ()

I wouldn't necessarily count on future editions of F# being available on Mono - F# is no longer is a "mere" research product but a mainstream member of the Visual Studio language lineup starting with VS2010.

Aside: Regarding Mono, I think we still intend to support it, e.g.

[link:blogs.msdn.com]

Q. What about Mono?

o The F# compiler and tools will continue to provide a means for Mono users to develop F# applications, initially through the Visual Studio 2008/.NET2.0 tool chain (see above).

By on 7/13/2009 10:13 AM ()

Aside: Regarding Mono, I think we still intend to support it, e.g.

... initially through the Visual Studio 2008/.NET2.0 tool chain .

That's great to hear, Brian - though I think it would be unreasonable to expect that "Visual Studio F#" will remain constrained to .NET 2.0 (or whatever version happens to be supported by Mono) indefinitely - regardless of the best of intentions.

Peer

By on 7/13/2009 10:36 AM ()

You want the 'integrated' version of the shell, see

[link:stackoverflow.com]

(especially 'tools needed' section of accepted answer).

Basically just install the VS 2008 integrated shell, then install F# for 2008, both free downloads. This is what I use on my machine at home.

By on 7/10/2009 9:15 AM ()
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