Add a module of efficient non-structural equality/comparison operators

[baronfel]

Add a module of efficient non-structural equality/comparison operators [6098490]

Submitted by fsharporg-lang on 6/25/2014 12:00:00 AM
21 votes on UserVoice prior to migration

In F# 3.x uses of =, <>, <, >, <=, >=, compare, max and min use “structural equality and comparison”. This is the right default for a functional data-oriented language.
However, this gives rise to problems because
(a) the .NET op_Equality, op_LessThan and other corresponding static methods are not easily accessible from F#.
(b) the use of F#'s structural equality and comparison can be slow for user-defined value types.
In F# 4.0, it is reasonable to add a module NonStructuralOperators to FSharp.Core which gives an implementation of non-structural equality/comparison operators. Opening this module will ensure these operators are used within that scope, similar to the “Checked” module.

Response

** by fslang-admin on 1/21/2015 12:00:00 AM **

Completed for F# 4.0, See https://visualfsharp.codeplex.com/SourceControl/network/forks/dsyme/cleanup/contribution/7675
Don Syme, F# Language/Library Evolution

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