macOS
brew install mltonlocal Homebrew formula metadata
sudo port install mltonMacPorts ports tree · lang/mlton/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew / rank 6106
Whole-program, optimizing compiler for Standard ML. Version 20241230 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#mlton.
install
brew install mltonlocal Homebrew formula metadata
sudo port install mltonMacPorts ports tree · lang/mlton/Portfile · source: api.github.com
sudo dnf install mltonFedora Rawhide package metadata · mlton · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
nix profile install nixpkgs#mltonnixpkgs package indexes · mlton · source: raw.githubusercontent.com
sudo pacman -S mltonArch Linux sync databases · mlton · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
sudo apt install mltonUbuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · mlton · source: archive.ubuntu.com
overview
Whole-program, optimizing compiler for Standard ML
history
MLton grew out of Standard ML compiler research in the late 1990s. The project history traces its start to April 1997, when Stephen Weeks wrote a defunctorizer for Standard ML and integrated it with SML/NJ. That origin explains the shape of the compiler: MLton is not an interactive SML environment, but a whole-program compiler that takes the complete program as input and uses that global view for optimization.
The project became known in the Standard ML community for aggressive whole-program optimization and standalone native executables. Its own repository describes support for SML97, a complete Standard ML Basis Library, the ML Basis system, a C foreign-function interface, source-level profiling, mllex, mlyacc, and mlnlffigen. The implementation emphasizes small executables and runtime performance through unboxed representations, native arrays, GMP-backed arbitrary precision arithmetic, multiple code generators, and multiple garbage-collection strategies.
In package-manager terms, MLton occupies the serious native-code SML compiler niche alongside SML/NJ, Poly/ML, and MLKit rather than the lightweight scripting or teaching niche. It is used when SML code needs to be compiled into fast standalone programs, when whole-program analysis is useful, or when tools from the MLton distribution such as mllex, mlyacc, and mlprof are part of the workflow.
security posture
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
mllex | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mlnlffigen | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mlprof | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mlton | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mlyacc | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
install metadata
| Package key | brew:mlton |
|---|---|
| Version | 20241230 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | http://mlton.org |
| Repository | https://github.com/MLton/mlton |
| Last updated | 2026-06-22T14:05:30-07:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
mlton
nix profile install nixpkgs#mltonmlton 20210117+dfsg-3
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML
sudo apt install mltonmlton-basis 20210117+dfsg-3
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML - basis library
sudo apt install mlton-basismlton-compiler 20210117+dfsg-3
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML - compiler
sudo apt install mlton-compilermlton-doc 20210117+dfsg-3
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML - documentation
sudo apt install mlton-docmlton-runtime-native 20210117+dfsg-3
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML - native runtime libraries
sudo apt install mlton-runtime-nativemlton-runtime-x86-64-linux-gnu 20210117+dfsg-3
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML - amd64 runtime libraries
sudo apt install mlton-runtime-x86-64-linux-gnumlton-tools 20210117+dfsg-3
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML - tools
sudo apt install mlton-toolsmlton 20210117-13.fc45
Optimizing compiler for Standard ML
sudo dnf install mltonmlton 20241230-1
Whole-program optimizing Standard ML compiler
sudo pacman -S mltonmlton
sudo port install mltonsource trail
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View the package source record on GitHub.