RE: [Caml-list] Web Development with OCaml

["Francois Rouaix" <frouaix@home.net>]

To add a few cents to the discussion

> 5. An OCaml Web Server. I don't know what's available here yet.
>        I haven't had the time to research yet.
>        This could be a very interesting option, especially if it's fast.
>        This could easily be an excellent option to put behind Tux.
>        Tux serves number 1. above and passes all dynamic services to this
> server.

Back in 1996, I had something called V6 running in OCaml; it was an HTTP
proxy with
a bunch of interesting features, and could serve as a Web server. However,
this was
a long time ago, and iI implemented only HTTP 1.0, not 1.1. Also, we didn't
have threads in
native mode in those days. The speed was still reasonable. I remember that I
could
easily use 60% of  our 10 Mb/s network (network still being used by other
stuff in
the lab).

> Is there any interest in a mod_ocaml or a fast-cgi module for OCaml?
> I haven't a clue on how to develop either but could possibly learn. :)
> After learning OCaml (at least some) first.

Actually, I did start an mod_ocaml project a couple of years ago. I had the
core
working, meaning that I produce a very simple page with the module.
However, I stopped before moving forward because of the intricacy of
correctly
designing the whole thing (configuration, separation of name spaces between
user-modules, compilation and loading on demand, etc...).
Also, I had doubts about the usefulness of a mod_ocaml. In practice (meaning
in the real .com world, where I was working at the time), one uses multiple
tier architectures. And you want something in the frontend that is simple
enough
that non-real programmers can still tweak; something that only does layout,
and
no logic.

If someone is interested, I might be able to retrieve the source. There is
a good OReilly book on Apache modules (although Apache 2.0 may make
this obsolete altogether).

--f
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