3 ms·

As I read the author's comparison, OCaml came to my mind as well. Reading Minsky's posts and the Real World OCaml book got me really interested in its capabilit

by bpyne 10y ago

As I read the author's comparison, OCaml came to my mind as well. Reading Minsky's posts and the Real World OCaml book got me really interested in its capabilities for modern software development. I've heard mixed reviews about the object-oriented features, but the functional ones are solid, expressive, and easy to understand. At home, I started using it as my primary language just a few weeks ago.

agentgt 10y ago
I use the OCaml utop REPL as my day to day calculator (booting up excel gets old). I honestly think it has the best REPL.
- bpyne 10y ago
  Thanks for the tip. I see utop referenced all the time, but I just haven't fired it up. Currently I'm designing a small language so I can learn OCaml better. I'm planning to use the ocamllex and menhir tools for lexing and parsing. I'm sure utop will come in handy for testing out ideas.
ryanslade 10y ago
I've been playing around with OCaml a fair bit in my spare time too. I've been using Go at work full time for about 4 years so that's my main comparison. I love OCaml as a language but the ecosystem is really pretty bad. There is just too much fragmentation and lack of libraries. I would have expected more from a language that is over 20 years old. Don't get me wrong, I want it to succeed since I agree it has a really nice mix of features.. I just have my doubts given its track record so far.
- agentgt 10y ago
  > Don't get me wrong, I want it to succeed since I agree it has a really nice mix of features.. I just have my doubts given its track record so far. While I agree... Javascript is also just as old and arguably more fragmented (with the exception of jQuery). That being said perhaps unlikely but OCaml may make a massive comeback just like Javascript did (particularly if for some reason Rust fails which I doubt).
  - geodel 10y ago
    Javascript has web giants' backing who made it work and well enough to write sophisticated frontends like webmails etc. OCaml has Jane street and may be a couple more using it as secondary language for some applications. I don't think it is going to catch up big time.
- Nelkins 10y ago
  If you're looking for OCaml with a better ecosystem, take a look at F#. It's basically OCaml on .NET.
  - ryanslade 10y ago
    Yes, I agree. It seems almost perfect apart from the fact that non windows support is still lacking.

by bpyne 10y ago

agentgt 10y ago

I use the OCaml utop REPL as my day to day calculator (booting up excel gets old). I honestly think it has the best REPL.

bpyne 10y ago
Thanks for the tip. I see utop referenced all the time, but I just haven't fired it up. Currently I'm designing a small language so I can learn OCaml better. I'm planning to use the ocamllex and menhir tools for lexing and parsing. I'm sure utop will come in handy for testing out ideas.

ryanslade 10y ago

I've been playing around with OCaml a fair bit in my spare time too. I've been using Go at work full time for about 4 years so that's my main comparison. I love OCaml as a language but the ecosystem is really pretty bad. There is just too much fragmentation and lack of libraries. I would have expected more from a language that is over 20 years old. Don't get me wrong, I want it to succeed since I agree it has a really nice mix of features.. I just have my doubts given its track record so far.

agentgt 10y ago
> Don't get me wrong, I want it to succeed since I agree it has a really nice mix of features.. I just have my doubts given its track record so far. While I agree... Javascript is also just as old and arguably more fragmented (with the exception of jQuery). That being said perhaps unlikely but OCaml may make a massive comeback just like Javascript did (particularly if for some reason Rust fails which I doubt).
- geodel 10y ago
  Javascript has web giants' backing who made it work and well enough to write sophisticated frontends like webmails etc. OCaml has Jane street and may be a couple more using it as secondary language for some applications. I don't think it is going to catch up big time.
Nelkins 10y ago
If you're looking for OCaml with a better ecosystem, take a look at F#. It's basically OCaml on .NET.
- ryanslade 10y ago
  Yes, I agree. It seems almost perfect apart from the fact that non windows support is still lacking.