Re: [Caml-list] Teaching ocaml programming

[Dario Teixeira <darioteixeira@yahoo.com>]

Hi,

Your problem is simplified by the fact you already have dual
boot machines (if not, Richard's live CD idea is always a good
option).  Unix is Ocaml's natural habitat, and some of the
problems you mentioned (like symlinks for Ocamlbuild) would
simply go away if you boot into Ubuntu.

I got the impression your students are not too familiar with
Unix.  Well, if that's the case I think in the long term they
can only benefit by being exposed to it.  I once had to teach
3rd year Compsci students the fundamentals of Unix programming
in C.  Much to my surprise, some of them didn't even know how
to use basic shell commands or to invoke gcc!  I guess my
predecessors had sheltered them too much from the "big bad
Unix".

Now, I understand you may be reluctant to spend valuable class
time teaching them the rudiments of Unix, but I reckon that if
you provide them with the relevant configuration files they can
be up and running in less than half an hour.  And I bet that
some of them may even discover that they prefer Unix.

Cheers,
Dario