[Caml-list] OCaml standard library: past, present, future

["Jehan Pagès" <jehan.marmottard@gmail.com>]

Hello all!

OCaml is evolving regularly. This is great. BUT basically what I see
over the years are mainly core evolutions.
Don't get me wrong, core evolutions are really good. Improving the
performance of the compiler, optimizations, the runtime, interesting
syntax evolutions, data structures, and so on. But what about the
slightly higher level? The standard library…

I know that the primary core developers of OCaml are scholars (INRIA).
And academic study of a language is nicel, I won't deny it. But
"practically", the more enjoyable languages are also ones with a good,
high quality, standard library coming with the rest of the language.
Language is not only syntax. So this is the part of OCaml that I miss
the most, because the provided default libraries are nice but miss
many utilities.

I know there are some projects of building such complete library out
there. I've heard at least of Batteries. I know also some companies
are working on improving OCaml. So when are at least part of these
libraries (the ones that the upstream core team consider high-quality
enough) included into the upstream distribution? Not all at a time,
but at least sometimes. Right now, there are nearly never any addition
to the upstream standard lib.

Thanks on any insight about how this specific aspect of OCaml will
evolve (if there is any plan of it)! :-)

Jehan

P.S.: I know that there are at each release bug fixes, improvements,
and sometimes additions of features in currently existing Modules. But
what I wonder is more when new Modules in the standard lib will be
added...