Re: [Caml-list] OCaml for Industry

[Erik de Castro Lopo <ocaml-erikd@mega-nerd.com>]

Jon Harrop wrote:

> I get the impression that most people here (like me) write OCaml code without 
> benefit of a manager. ;-)

Well I tried to get Ocaml in the door where I work. I was tasked
with writing what was basically a compiler; programming language 
like syntax on the input, construct internal representation, 
manipulate internal representation, write out binary data which 
is basically a state transition table for a program running in an 
embedded device.

When this started I had already been programming in Ocaml for
about 9 months and felt really comfortable with it. Ocaml is
also ideal for compilers.

I suggested it but management said no and I didn't push it.
Ocaml is in their eyes a rather obsure language. I then suggested
Java (with ANTLR) but no, then C++, no. In the end it was written
in standard C with flex/bison. Every time I had to traverses a
damned linked list in C I though of how easy and foolproof this 
would have been in Ocaml.

So yes, the Ocaml code I write at home I do so without a manager
(not even my wife is allowed to tell me what programming language 
to use :-)).

Erik

-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
  Erik de Castro Lopo  nospam@mega-nerd.com (Yes it's valid)
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Good advice for everyone : stay away from churches, mosques and
synagouges.