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The thing not described by the author is what oCaml is like to program. Python is easy to write and understand and makes sense and is a joy and not cryptic. Wha

by hoodoof 12y ago

The thing not described by the author is what oCaml is like to program. Python is easy to write and understand and makes sense and is a joy and not cryptic. What about OCaml?

the_af 12y ago
Maybe not in the main article, but he gives an overall view of OCaml in the sublinks. For example, in the summary for "OCaml: what you gain": http://roscidus.com/blog/blog/2014/02/13/ocaml-what-you-gain/ http://roscidus.com/blog/blog/2014/02/13/ocaml-what-you-gain... The summary: ---- "OCaml’s main strengths are correctness and speed. Its type checking is very good at catching errors, and its “polymorphic variants” are a particularly useful feature, which I haven’t seen in other languages. Separate module interface files, abstract types, cycle-free dependencies, and data structures that are immutable by default help to make clean APIs. Surprisingly, writing GTK GUI code in OCaml was easier than in Python. The resulting code was significantly shorter and, I suspect, will prove far more reliable. OCaml’s type checking is particularly welcome here, as GUI code is often difficult to unit-test. The OCaml community is very good at maintaining API stability, allowing the same code to compile on old and new systems and (hopefully) minimising time spent updating it later." ---- This gives me the impression that OCaml is also a joy to program with, and additionally is more reliable and better at catching errors earlier than Python.
talex5 12y ago
It is a joy when you get used to it, but it's not as immediately accessible as Python. As I recall, my first hour or so with OCaml was full of frustrating syntax errors. Keep going though, it's worth it! One thing I don't think the tutorial mentions, but which helps a lot, is turning on all warnings ("-w A"). The tutorial also fails to mention ocamlbuild, so you start by compiling things manually, which makes everything harder than it should be.

by hoodoof 12y ago

The thing not described by the author is what oCaml is like to program. Python is easy to write and understand and makes sense and is a joy and not cryptic. What about OCaml?

the_af 12y ago

Maybe not in the main article, but he gives an overall view of OCaml in the sublinks. For example, in the summary for "OCaml: what you gain": http://roscidus.com/blog/blog/2014/02/13/ocaml-what-you-gain/ http://roscidus.com/blog/blog/2014/02/13/ocaml-what-you-gain... The summary: ---- "OCaml’s main strengths are correctness and speed. Its type checking is very good at catching errors, and its “polymorphic variants” are a particularly useful feature, which I haven’t seen in other languages. Separate module interface files, abstract types, cycle-free dependencies, and data structures that are immutable by default help to make clean APIs. Surprisingly, writing GTK GUI code in OCaml was easier than in Python. The resulting code was significantly shorter and, I suspect, will prove far more reliable. OCaml’s type checking is particularly welcome here, as GUI code is often difficult to unit-test. The OCaml community is very good at maintaining API stability, allowing the same code to compile on old and new systems and (hopefully) minimising time spent updating it later." ---- This gives me the impression that OCaml is also a joy to program with, and additionally is more reliable and better at catching errors earlier than Python.

talex5 12y ago

It is a joy when you get used to it, but it's not as immediately accessible as Python. As I recall, my first hour or so with OCaml was full of frustrating syntax errors. Keep going though, it's worth it! One thing I don't think the tutorial mentions, but which helps a lot, is turning on all warnings ("-w A"). The tutorial also fails to mention ocamlbuild, so you start by compiling things manually, which makes everything harder than it should be.