((1) + (2)) In Java, ( and ) mean grouping or function call. In ML, ( and ) mean grouping or tuples (and they have nothing to do with function calls). f (3); f (3,4,5); f (2,3); f 3; f 3 4; f (3,4); f ((3,4)) ((5,6)); fun f (x,y) (u,v) = x + y + u + v; fun f (x:real) y = x + y; (* ML, F#, Caml, Ocaml, Haskell *)