From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (from weis@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id LAA25041 for caml-redistribution; Fri, 24 Jan 1997 11:48:41 +0100 (MET) Received: from nez-perce.inria.fr (nez-perce.inria.fr [192.93.2.78]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id RAA10945 for ; Thu, 23 Jan 1997 17:39:02 +0100 (MET) Received: from kronstadt.rahul.net (kronstadt.rahul.net [204.95.70.128]) by nez-perce.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id RAA24574 for ; Thu, 23 Jan 1997 17:38:57 +0100 (MET) Received: (from itz@localhost) by kronstadt.rahul.net (8.7.6/8.7.3) id IAA29239; Thu, 23 Jan 1997 08:37:49 -0800 Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 08:37:49 -0800 Message-Id: <199701231637.IAA29239@kronstadt.rahul.net> From: Ian T Zimmerman To: caml-list@inria.fr In-reply-to: Hendrik Tews's message of Tue, 21 Jan 1997 13:54:46 +0100 Subject: Re: ergonomie du compilateur References: <199701211254.NAA13357@ithif18.inf.tu-dresden.de> Sender: weis In article <199701211254.NAA13357@ithif18.inf.tu-dresden.de> Hendrik Tews writes: > > Hello, > > I do occasionally program in ocaml. Since David Monniaux started a > discussion about the error messages of the ocaml compiler I would > like to add my opinion as well. > > Features I dislike: > > - There is no error recovery in the compiler. Before I start the > first compile I have at least 5 syntax errors in the file. In order > to find them I have to go through at least 5 edit-compile cycles, > which I find very annoying. > > - In case of a syntax error, the compiler never reports what it > was expecting. For an ocaml beginner which has some experience in > SML it can be a tough problem to find the error in a line like > > type 'a tree = node of 'a * 'a tree * 'a tree > | leaf;; > > since the compiler only says > > File "a.ml", line 3, characters 13-14: > Syntax error > > I would consider a message like "Expecting a Constructor, but found > an identifier" extremely useful. > I am working on these (among millions of other non-Caml things), in the context of Caml Light. If I ever finish it, I'll certainly contact Ocaml maintainers about a possible port. -- Ian T Zimmerman I fully support the President's proposal to test driver's license applicants for drugs. Any plan to reduce driving is worth a try.