Editing Standard ML (section)

====Structures====
A ''structure'' is a module; it consists of a collection of types, exceptions, values and structures (called ''substructures'') packaged together into a logical unit.

A queue structure can be implemented as follows:

<syntaxhighlight lang="sml">
structure TwoListQueue :> QUEUE = struct
    type 'a queue = 'a list * 'a list

    exception QueueError;

    val empty = ([], [])

    fun isEmpty ([], []) = true
      | isEmpty _ = false

    fun singleton a = ([], [a])

    fun fromList a = ([], a)

    fun insert (a, ([], [])) = singleton a
      | insert (a, (ins, outs)) = (a :: ins, outs)

    fun peek (_, []) = raise QueueError
      | peek (ins, outs) = List.hd outs

    fun remove (_, []) = raise QueueError
      | remove (ins, [a]) = (a, ([], List.rev ins))
      | remove (ins, a :: outs) = (a, (ins, outs))
end
</syntaxhighlight>

This definition declares that {{code|lang=sml|structure TwoListQueue}} implements {{code|lang=sml|signature QUEUE}}. Furthermore, the ''opaque ascription'' denoted by {{code|lang=sml|:>}} states that any types which are not defined in the signature (i.e. {{code|lang=sml|type 'a queue}}) should be abstract, meaning that the definition of a queue as a pair of lists is not visible outside the module. The structure implements all of the definitions in the signature.

The types and values in a structure can be accessed with "dot notation":

<syntaxhighlight lang="sml">
val q : string TwoListQueue.queue = TwoListQueue.empty
val q' = TwoListQueue.insert (Real.toString Math.pi, q)
</syntaxhighlight>