forget the link... [1]: http://www.typerex.org/ocaml-top.html On Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 9:35 AM, Ivan Gotovchits wrote: > > > On Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 9:27 AM, Alan Schmitt < > alan.schmitt@polytechnique.org> wrote: > >> Hello, >> >> Thanks to everyone for your answers, this has given me much food for >> thought. >> >> On 2015-06-23 01:41, Philippe Wang writes: >> >> > In my opinion, it's a lot more relevant to use a very limited and very >> > simple subset of OCaml when teaching to beginners. And this subset >> > does not involve expressions at top-level because it's not worth the >> > trouble. >> >> I like this approach because it amounts to saying "one always starts >> a phrase with 'let' or 'type'" (and later in the year there can be >> 'open', 'module', 'include'). I sure can live without top-level >> expressions. >> >> On the other hand, I also like the idea of terminating phrases, simply >> because explaining when it terminates is not trivial otherwise, as >> a 'let' may not be the beginning of a phrase. >> >> > Also, using the interactive top-level loop is, in my opinion, not good >> > for beginners. It should only be presented to those who already >> > understand very well the "core" of OCaml. The most frequent issue with >> > the top-level loop is that it gets in the way of the notion of >> > compiling a program, and it might give the false impression that OCaml >> > can be interpreted. >> >> I am curious about this. My goal is to teach the language, and I find >> that a REPL backed with a file works great to do this (using tuareg or >> ocaml-top). What do you use to make sure students have a fast >> compile/debug cycle? >> > > You should take a look into ocaml-top [1]. It is a toplevel that doesn't > require `;;` at all. > > > > > >> >> Thanks again, >> >> Alan >> >> -- >> OpenPGP Key ID : 040D0A3B4ED2E5C7 >> Weekly CO₂ average (2015-05-30, Mauna Loa Observatory): 403.41 ppm >> > >