Alice is a functional programming language bridging the gap
between the statically typed, functional world of ML and the
dynamically typed world of concurrent constraint programming as
found in Oz. Alice combines the most appreciated features from
both worlds.
>From Standard ML it inherits:
Functional core language
seamless higher-order functional programming in a
well-established syntax
Polymorphic type system
strong static typing with automatic type inference
Higher-order modules
parameterization and encapsulation via type abstraction
Simplicity
high expressiveness with few orthogonal language
constructs
Compatibility
access to a large pool of libraries and introductory
literature
>From Oz it inherits:
Futures
laziness and light-weight concurrency with implicit
dataflow synchronisation
Components
platform-independent higher-order persistence and
lazy dynamic linking
Distribution
network transparent mobility with fault tolerance
Constraints
concurrent constraints and programmable search
for combinatorical problems
Interactive tools
browsers for data structures and search spaces
Interoperability
application development in mixed ML/Oz environment
Alice also provides features not found in either language:
Promises
safer "logic variables" with separated read/write view
Runtime typing
type-safe linking, persistence and inter-process
communication
Packages
typeful modules as first-class values
Alice released ML+Oz+
