core_kernel

Js_of_ocaml [1] is a good alternative to BuckleScript for standard OCaml (non-Reason). For example, it works well with Core_kernel [2] and Async_kernel [3] to provide high-level functionality that is cross compatible between Unix applications and browser applications. [1] https://github.com/ocsigen/js_of_ocaml [2] https://github.com/janestreet/core_kernel [3] https://github.com/janestreet/async_kernel

One thing struck me as odd reading this: he skips over the implementation of the Make functor, which is the interesting bit. But looking at [1], I realized it was a bit hairy. For a maybe more approachable example of a Make functor, you can have a look at [2] around line 1181: given a module with a type t and a comparator function, it creates a module for a set of elements of type t. That said, it's a really nice set of posts, and they're the initial reason I started to get interested in the language. 1: https://github.com/0install/0install/blob/master/ocaml/zeroi... 2: https://github.com/janestreet/core_kernel/blob/master/lib/co...

>> While most OCaml implementations have poor standard libraries > That right there should tell you something. I wouldn't use that as the main criteria to judge a language. C has a poor standard library (for a definition of "poor" relative to, say, python) and so does C++. But they are certainly useful tools in their domains. In any case, OCaml has a couple of standard library replacements/augmentations that reduce the gap a bit. (Batteries Included [1] and Jane Street's Core [2]) [1] https://github.com/ocaml-batteries-team/batteries-included/ [2] https://github.com/janestreet/core and https://github.com/janestreet/core_kernel

> Probably the biggest problem on Windows is that OPAM, the package manager, doesn't work there. That will come eventually, though Wodi [1] is a reasonable choice until OPAM starts supporting Windows. It includes many of the interesting/useful libraries (including, importantly, batteries [2] and core [3]) [1] http://wodi.forge.ocamlcore.org/ [2] http://batteries.forge.ocamlcore.org/ [3] https://github.com/janestreet/core_kernel

(Author of the article here) The stdlib that ships with the compiler is indeed minimal, though it is used for things other than the compiler. It can be used for other projects, but you probably want something more full-featured. Core, and the more minimal and portable Core_kernel (https://github.com/janestreet/core_kernel) is a full-featured alternative that is growing in popularity, and is what the book I worked on (Real World OCaml, http://realworldocaml.org) is based on. OCaml (and most of both the stdlib and Core) default to immutable data structures, but OCaml has good support for programming imperatively, to its credit, in my view.