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This is a simple question: what are the most popular/used/developed (libraries a plus) functional programming languages that are ready to be used for web development? I don't mind if they're pure languages or not, but I would prefer to exclude such languages as Ruby and Python. I am thinking along the lines of F# or Scheme (and those these aren't pure functional programming languages, I don't mind, I'm simply looking for a language that can work with types fluently).

Since asking this question the main languages that have been recommended are Haskell, Lisp, and Scheme.

Thanks.

Edits:
-Checked out state of web development using functional programming language which seems to favor a Lisp.
-How-to for web programming with Lisp or Scheme: How I Can do web programming with Lisp or Scheme?

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sholsapp
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7 Answers7

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OCaml has a web framework, Ocsigen

The language also comes with some nifty utilities that makes easy to build simple web applications, like netplex module (I've used it before in a school project, an mvc framework, it did almost all the web/socket part)

Chubas
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These are the few I could remember top of my head:

Faiz
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missingfaktor
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  • +1 for Lift, it's already in commercial use. See here: http://www.softwaresecretweapons.com/jspwiki/twitter-linkedin-to-migrate-to-scala-should-you – wheaties Aug 24 '10 at 12:10
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I have not used it myself, but WebSharper looks interesting.

Brian
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Haskell has a plethora of web frameworks. The most well-established framework is Happs, but there are several new and active projects:

The full list is on the Haskell wiki.

Simon Marlow
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You might want to take a look at Erlang's Webmachine, MochiWeb (includes a bunch of libraries), Nitrogen, etc.

http://bitbucket.org/justin/webmachine/wiki/Home

http://github.com/mochi/mochiweb

http://nitrogenproject.com/

0xYUANTI
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PLT Racket has a webserver use.

I believe mod_lisp makes any Lisp available for web use.

Also, this StackOverflow question talks about using Haskell as a web language.

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Greg
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This answer is partly in jest, but some people try their best to do functional programming in JavaScript:

http://osteele.com/sources/javascript/functional/
Javascript as a functional language

Using the same language on client and server has to count as a plus, even if the language isn't purely functional.

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Joeri Sebrechts
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