= http://mlton.org[MLton]

ifdef::env-github[]
image:https://travis-ci.org/MLton/mlton.svg?branch=master[Build Status, link = https://travis-ci.org/MLton/mlton]
endif::[]

****
MLton is a whole-program optimizing compiler for the Standard{nbsp}ML
programming language.
****

== Features

 * Portability. Runs on the following platforms:

   - ARM: Linux (Debian).
   - Alpha: Linux (Debian).
   - AMD64: Darwin (Mac OS X), FreeBSD, Linux (Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, ...),
     OpenBSD, Solaris (10 and above).
   - HPPA: HPUX (11.11 and above), Linux (Debian).
   - IA64: HPUX (11.11 and above), Linux (Debian).
   - PowerPC: AIX (5.2 and above), Darwin (Mac OS X), Linux (Debian, Fedora).
   - PowerPC64: AIX (5.2 and above).
   - S390: Linux (Debian).
   - Sparc: Linux (Debian), Solaris (8 and above).
   - X86: Cygwin/Windows, Darwin (Mac OS X), FreeBSD, Linux (Debian, Fedora,
     Ubuntu, ...), MinGW/Windows, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris (10 and above).

 * Robustness.

   - Supports the full SML 97 language as given in The Definition of
     Standard{nbsp}ML (Revised).
   - A complete implementation of the Basis Library.
   - Generates standalone executables.
   - Compiles large programs.
   - Support for large amounts of memory (up to 4G on 32-bit systems;
     more on 64-bit systems).
   - Support for large array lengths (up to 2^31^ - 1 on 32-bit systems;
     up to 2^63^-1 on 64-bit systems).
   - Support for large files, using 64-bit file positions.

 * Performance.

   - Executables have excellent running times.
   - Generates small executables.
   - Untagged and unboxed native integers, reals, and words.
   - Unboxed native arrays.
   - Multiple garbage collection strategies.
   - Fast arbitrary-precision arithmetic based on the GMP.

 * Tools.

   - Source-level profiling for both time and allocation.
   - MLLex lexer generator.
   - MLYacc parser generator.
   - MLNLFFIGEN foreign-function-interface generator.

 * Extensions.

   - A simple and fast C FFI that supports calling from SML to C and from C
     to SML.
   - The ML Basis system for programming in the very large.
   - Libraries for continuations, finalization, interval timers, random numbers,
     resource limits, resource usage, signal handlers, object size, system
     logging, threads, weak pointers, and world save and restore.


== Build and Install (from source)

=== Requirements

==== Software

 * http://gcc.gnu.org/[GCC] or http://clang.llvm.org[Clang] (The C compiler must support `-std=gnu11`.)
 * http://gmplib.org[GMP] (GNU Multiple Precision arithmetic library)
 * http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/make[GNU Make]
 * http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/[GNU Bash]
 * binutils (`ar`, `ranlib`, `strip`, ...)
 * miscellaneous Unix utilities (`diff`, `find`, `grep`, `gzip`, `patch`, `sed`, `tar`, `xargs`, ...)
 * Standard{nbsp}ML compiler and tools to bootstrap:
   - http://mlton.org[MLton] (`mlton`, `mllex`, and `mlyacc`) recommended.  Pre-built binary packages for MLton can be installed via an OS package manager or (for select platforms) obtained from `http://mlton.org`.
   - http://www.smlnj.org[SML/NJ] (`sml`, `ml-lex`, `ml-yacc`) supported, but not recommended.
 * (optional, for documentation only) https://ctan.org/tex/[TeX], http://asciidoc.org/[AsciiDoc], http://pygments.org/[Pygments], http://www.graphicsmagick.org/[GraphicsMagick] or https://www.imagemagick.org/[ImageMagick], ...

==== Hardware

 * &ge; 1GB RAM (for 32-bit platforms) or &ge; 2GB RAM (for 64-bit platforms)

=== Build Instructions

On typical platforms, building MLton requires no configuration and can be
accomplished via:

[source,shell]
----
$ make all
----

A small set of `Makefile` variables can be used to customize the build:

 * `CC`: Specify C compiler.  Can be used for alternative tools (e.g.,
   `CC=clang` or `CC=gcc-7`).
 * `WITH_GMP_DIR`, `WITH_GMP_INC_DIR`, `WITH_GMP_LIB_DIR`: Specify GMP include
   and library paths, if not on default search paths.  (If `WITH_GMP_DIR` is
   set, then `WITH_GMP_INC_DIR` defaults to `$(WITH_GMP_DIR)/include` and
   `WITH_GMP_LIB_DIR` defaults to `$(WITH_GMP_DIR)/lib`.)
 * `MLTON_RUNTIME_ARGS`, `MLTON_COMPILE_ARGS`: Specify runtime and compile
   arguments given to (the to-be-built) `mlton` when compiling distributed
   executables ((self-compiled) `mlton`, `mllex`, `mlyacc`, `mlprof`, and
   `mlnlffigen`). Can be used for testing (e.g., `MLTON_COMPILE_ARGS="-codegen
   c"`) or for downstream packaging.
 * `BOOTSTRAP_MLTON_RUNTIME_ARGS`, `BOOTSTRAP_MLTON_COMPILE_ARGS`: Specify
   runtime and compile arguments given to "old" `mlton` when compiling
   "bootstrapped" `mlton`. Can be used to work around bugs in "old" `mlton` when
   compiling "bootstrapped" `mlton`.

For example:

[source,shell]
----
$ make CC=clang WITH_GMP_DIR=/opt/gmp MLTON_COMPILE_ARGS="-codegen c" all
----

The build artifacts are located under `./build`.  The just-built `mlton` can be
executed via `./build/bin/mlton`.

Building documentation can be accomplished via:

[source,shell]
----
$ make docs
----

=== Install Instructions

On typical platforms, installing MLton (after performing `make all` and,
optionally, `make docs`) to `/usr/local` can be accomplished via:

[source,shell]
----
$ make install
----

A small set of `Makefile` variables can be used to customize the installation:

 * `PREFIX`: Specify the installation prefix.

For example:

[source,shell]
----
$ make PREFIX=/opt/mlton install
----

== Install (from binary package)

=== Requirements

==== Software

 * http://gcc.gnu.org/[GCC] or http://clang.llvm.org[Clang] (The C compiler must support `-std=gnu11`.)
 * http://gmplib.org[GMP] (GNU Multiple Precision arithmetic library)
 * http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/make[GNU Make]
 * http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/[GNU Bash]
 * miscellaneous Unix utilities (`bzip2`, `gzip`, `sed`, `tar`, ...)

=== Binary Package

A `.tgz` or `.tbz` binary package can be extracted at any location, yielding
`README.adoc` (this file), `CHANGELOG.adoc`, `LICENSE`, `Makefile`, `bin/`,
`lib/`, and `share/`.  The compiler and tools can be executed in-place (e.g.,
`./bin/mlton`).

A small set of `Makefile` variables can be used to customize the binary package
via `make update`:

 * `CC`: Specify C compiler.  Can be used for alternative tools (e.g.,
   `CC=clang` or `CC=gcc-7`).
 * `WITH_GMP_DIR`, `WITH_GMP_INC_DIR`, `WITH_GMP_LIB_DIR`: Specify GMP include
   and library paths, if not on default search paths.  (If `WITH_GMP_DIR` is
   set, then `WITH_GMP_INC_DIR` defaults to `$(WITH_GMP_DIR)/include` and
   `WITH_GMP_LIB_DIR` defaults to `$(WITH_GMP_DIR)/lib`.)

For example:

[source,shell]
----
$ make CC=clang WITH_GMP_DIR=/opt/gmp update
----

=== Install Instructions

On typical platforms, installing MLton (after optionally performing
`make update`) to `/usr/local` can be accomplished via:

[source,shell]
----
$ make install
----

A small set of `Makefile` variables can be used to customize the installation:

 * `PREFIX`: Specify the installation prefix.

For example:

[source,shell]
----
$ make PREFIX=/opt/mlton install
----

== Resources

 * `http://mlton.org`
 * mailing lists
   - `MLton-devel@mlton.org` -- MLton developers
     (https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_name=mlton-devel[archive],
     https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mlton-devel[subscribe])
   - `MLton-user@mlton.org` -- MLton user community
     (https://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_name=mlton-user[archive],
     https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mlton-user[subscribe])

== Need help? Found a bug?

https://github.com/MLton/mlton/issues[Submit an issue] if you need any help.
We welcome pull requests with bug fixes or changes.
