So, since one cannot build metro style apps with F# and it isn’t possible to reference a F# library from within a metro style app, where is the place of F# in Windows 8?
I mean what is its future?
Won’t F# have the same fate as Silverlight after a while? Does Microsoft have the will to develop it farther?
I know, I know I can still develop asp.net, WCF and desktop applications in F#, but the question is what are the long term plans of the Microsoft with it?
Will it perish some day, or will live forever?
Edited:
Well, I’m fine with impossibility to build metro style apps in F#. I assume that its Lightweight\Verbose syntax and the need for indentation make it difficult to write a XAML pre-processor or write a VS template. The question is, is it an experimental project aimed to take the best parts of it and include them into C#, or F# has a future in Windows eco-system?
I think your assumptions are wrong – it should be possible to reference F# library from a C# Metro-style application if you create Portable Library project in Visual Studio 11.
So, F# will definitely continue to be useful as a langauge for developing the “difficult” part of Windows application where you implement your domain model, algorithms, network communication etc.
Moreover, with projects like Pit (or commercial WebSharper), it is possible to write F# applications that will be truly portable and can run not just on Windows 8, but also on Android tablets or on the iPad as JavaScript applications.