F*: A general-purpose proof-oriented programming language
F* is a general-purpose, proof-oriented programming language designed for formal verification and effectful programming. It supports compilation to multiple targets including OCaml, F#, C, and WebAssembly, and is actively maintained by Microsoft Research and Inria.
Why it matters
It provides a robust framework for developers to build software that is mathematically proven to be correct and secure, which is critical for high-stakes systems.
F* (pronounced F star ) is a general-purpose proof-oriented programming language, supporting both purely functional and effectful programming. It combines the expressive power of dependent types with proof automation based on SMT solving and tactic-based interactive theorem proving. F* programs compile, by default, to OCaml. Various fragments of F* can also be extracted to F#, to C or Wasm by a tool called KaRaMeL , or to assembly using the Vale toolchain. F* is implemented in F* and bootstrapped using OCaml. F* is open source on GitHub and is under active development by Microsoft Research , Inria , and by the community. Download F* is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license . Binaries for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X are posted regularly on the releases page on GitHub .
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in