F# Getting Started With VSCode : Prefer FSI and FSX over full dotnet projects

[jkone27]

I think most junior devs would benefit from starting to learn the language with Scripting, not with dotnet new and project files,
in a similar fashion ad python.

Script and REPL should be the first things to learn in F#, not .fsproj and dotnet commands.

install vscode + ionide, then something like this...

touch my-script.fsx
echo "pritntfn \"hello\"" | my-script.fsx
dotnet fsi my-script.fsx

all people need to get started easily, this would maybe help adoption and remove barriers across languages and frameworks

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Document Details

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• ID: 9b07eeb2-d274-35da-78d4-b7d78c255590
• Version Independent ID: bf145620-7f23-eb4d-376d-f739562d9a79
• Content: Get Started with F# in Visual Studio Code
• Content Source: docs/fsharp/get-started/get-started-vscode.md
• Product: dotnet-fsharp
• GitHub Login: @cartermp
• Microsoft Alias: dotnetcontent

[BillWagner]

Asking @dsyme or @KathleenDollard for their opinion on actions here.

[dsyme]

THis approach should be shown, alongside other approaches, but shouldn't be the prioritised approach. dotnet new is the way we teach people to get started

[jkone27]

I was just thinking that if python is the world most known and taught language in schools right now, the most similar thing to python 🐍 would make it easier for students with python knowledge and “script kids”, to have them approach the language in the easiest way possible. Then probably the compiler version can follow soon after, but for scripting F# has a great advantage over e.g. C# also because of Fsharp.Data and type providers in general ?

[BillWagner]

Adding this to our backlog, and adding the "help wanted" label.

Note that any PR should follow @dsyme's recommendation that this approach should be a complement to dotnet new, and not recommended instead of that.