The implementation of such a library is possible outside the compiler, thanks to the ffi support of the language. The library must be split in two parts: the native ocaml source part, and the C runtime part. the OCaml source must contain the datatype declaration, as well as the declaration of all the imported functions. … Read more
Well, having both available instead of only one gives the programmer tighter control on the scope. With let x = e1 in e2, the binding is only present in e2‘s environment, while with let rec x = e1 in e2 the binding is present in both e1 and e2‘s environments. (Edit: I want to emphasize … Read more
Do you want fast or do you want easy? If you want fast, you should use C++, even if you’re using FP principles to aid in correctness. Since timing is crucial, the support for soft (and hard, if need be) real-time programming will be important. You can decide exactly how and when you have time … Read more
From a practical standpoint, you can think of “functors” in OCaml and Haskell as unrelated. As you said, in Haskell a functor is any type that allows you to map a function over it. In OCaml, a functor is a module parametrized by another module. In Functional Programming, what is a functor? has a good … Read more
The question has answered itself… in a rather weird way. What it was really asking for (in 2012) was a cross-compiler targeting (an unspecified version of) iOS for version 4.x of Ocaml. And the code dump in the question was trying to use Jeffrey Scofield’s cross-compiling instructions and script (ocamlxarm/3.1) for Ocaml 3.1.x, which didn’t … Read more
I am going to answer for a medium-sized project in the conditions that I am familiar with, that is between 100K and 1M lines of source code and up to 10 developers. This is what we are using now, for a project started two months ago in August 2013. Build system and code organization: one … Read more
It really depends what you want to achieve. If you are happy with the OCaml polymorphic comparison function (which will not work on cyclic and functional values), you can simply write: let my_sort l = List.sort Pervasives.compare l The more generic way to mimic type classes is to use functors: module type COMPARABLE = sig … Read more
Quick Solution You just need to add parentheses, or begin/end, around the inner match: let rec filter exp = match exp with | Var v -> Var v | Sum (e1, e2) -> Sum (e1, e2) | Prod (e1, e2) -> Prod (e1, e2) | Diff (e1, e2) -> (match e2 with | Sum (e3, … Read more
As a general rule of thumb, don’t use objects. The additional complexity they bring in is not that often worth it. I think that’s a rule that apply to other languages as well, but that’s another story. At least with OCaml one can objectively (no pun intended) say that the common practice is to not … Read more
By all accounts, both OCaml and Haskell have sufficiently performant compilers and runtimes for almost anything. Picking between them on the basis of pure performance seems silly to me. You’ve come this far — moving away from the obviously most low-level and performant languages (C, C++, etc.) in the name of clearer, more succinct, more … Read more