Re: [Caml-list] how to encourage adoption of OCaml?

[Dean Thompson <deansherthompson@gmail.com>]

:-) Yaron, that's your cue.

Dean

> On Jun 30, 2016, at 6:16 AM, Kakadu <kakadu.hafanana@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Folks, is second ppx-based edition of RWO being considered by original authors?
> 
> Kakadu
> 
> On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 1:01 PM, Dean Thompson
> <deansherthompson@gmail.com> wrote:
>> A few years ago, with over 30 years of programming experience including 15 years primarily in Java, I decided I needed a new “home” programming language. I then spent a frustrating few years studying what’s out there. I have felt like a man without a country. I developed fairly serious crushes on Scala and then on Haskell, but after a few serious dates with them I moved on. I have read deeply about many, many more.
>> 
>> I have converged on OCaml. It is a beautiful language and a highly practical functional language. Although infrastructure such as compilers, editor/IDE support, and libraries are on the minimal side, the essentials are all there and are lovingly maintained. Although the community is small, it is smart, friendly, and engaged. Some amazing technology is available or work-in-progress (such as js_of_ocaml and Mirage).
>> 
>> But this feels like a fragile new home unless we can build a bigger community! For one thing, if our community shrinks much, it may no longer be viable. Also, while I love 1,000 packages on opam, I want 100,000!
>> 
>> As a newcomer to the community, I have to say that there are daunting barriers to a potential new user considering OCaml for a new project. If you like starting on a new programming language with a book, as I do, you likely start with Real World OCaml. That book is very inspiring! But then when you try to move from RWO to, well, using OCaml in the real world, you discover that there is no consensus on Core as a standard library, and that Camlp4 is deprecated.
>> 
>> It appears to me that if, instead, you come to OCaml as a potential new user through ocaml.org, there are other barriers. It is hard for me to judge because I came through RWO, but it appears to me that the lack of consensus on standard library comes up pretty quickly. I’m more of a language manual guy than a tutorial guy, so I quickly notice that, although the OCaml language manual is well written, has a lovely introductory flow, and has great examples, it fairly quickly gets into terse description of language constructs while providing limited help to a beginner in developing intuition for the language as a whole and how best to use it.
>> 
>> This is one man’s experience and one man’s opinions. Do others on this list feel the ramp to OCaml adoption is smoother than my impression suggests? Who here is excited about making OCaml approachable to newcomers? Where is the main ongoing work on this? Who are the main leaders from this perspective?
>> 
>> Dean
>> --------
>> Dean Thompson
>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/deansthompson/
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
>> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
>> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
>> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
> 
> -- 
> Caml-list mailing list.  Subscription management and archives:
> https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list
> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners
> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs