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Message-ID: <47337745.3050203@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:53:25 -0600
From: Edgar Friendly <thelema314@gmail.com>
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To: Alexandre Pilkiewicz <alexandre.pilkiewicz@polytechnique.org>
Cc: caml-list@yquem.inria.fr
Subject: Re: [Caml-list] Smoke Vector Graphics: source code licenses for sale
References: <200711041201.10255.jon@ffconsultancy.com>	<200711081928.11501.alexandre.pilkiewicz@polytechnique.org>	<20071108190903.GB19567@yquem.inria.fr> <200711082124.21175.alexandre.pilkiewicz@polytechnique.org>
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X-Spam: no; 0.00; ocaml:01 haskell:01 formalizing:01 ocaml:01 compiler:01 compiler:01 edgar:98 smoke:98 wrote:01 caml-list:01 graphics:02 bugs:03 languages:03 vector:05 sale:92 

Alexandre Pilkiewicz wrote:
> Do you think it may be possible one day for OCaml to have a normalisation, 
> like Haskell had in 1998, and if it's allready the case, where can I find 
> it ?
> 
I don't see the need for formalizing the OCaml language - If we tried to
characterize what the current compiler did, we'd fail in many many
details.  And if we tried to write a spec independent of the compiler,
all of a sudden we'd just introduce hundreds of bugs into the compiler
because of its deviation from the spec.

Formal specifications have use in strictly "research" languages, but I
see their ability to stifle growth and improvement as more negative than
their ability to help people understand the proper operation of OCaml.

E.