[Caml-list] Attn: Development Editor, Latest OCaml Weekly News

[Alan Schmitt <alan.schmitt@polytechnique.org>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 19838 bytes --]

Hello

Here is the latest OCaml Weekly News, for the week of June 18 to 25,
2024.

Table of Contents
─────────────────

First public editor tooling dev-meeting
First release of oma
Ppxlib dev meetings
CAISAR release 2.0, a platform for characterizing AI safety and robustness
First release of baby
Preview of Stripe client and mock server - DkStdRestApis
opam 2.2.0 rc1 release
Project wide occurrences
Other OCaml News
Old CWN


First public editor tooling dev-meeting
═══════════════════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-first-public-editor-tooling-dev-meeting/14824/1>


vds announced
─────────────

  We are organizing the first public dev-meeting about Merlin, OCaml-LSP
  and more generally editor support for OCaml. This meeting will take
  place on *Thursday, June 27th*, at 05:00 pm CEST. We plan to have
  these happen every last Thursday of the month.

  The goal of these meetings is to provide a place for all contributors
  of these projects to discuss their work together. Whether you are a
  long time maintainer, an occasional contributor, a new comer, or
  simply a curious passer-by, please feel free to join and participate!

  We also plan to have some short technical presentations to help
  contributors learn more about the projects involved. These won't be
  systematic, and if you are interested in a particular subject feel
  free to ask about it or to propose a presentation.

  The agenda for this first meeting, which will be focused on the
  burning topic of project-wide occurrences, is the following:

  • A tour-de-table to allow the participants that wish to do so to
    present themselves and mention issues / prs they are interested in.
  • A presentation of current on-going projects.
  • A focus on project-wide occurrences: how does it work, what are the
    tools that need to interact together and what are its current
    limitations and possible future improvements.
  • Discuss issues and pull requests that were tagged in advance or
    mentioned during the tour-de-table.
  • Informal discussion

  We looking forward to meeting you!

  Meeting link: <https://meet.google.com/imo-mkxi-hpt>


First release of oma
════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-first-release-of-oma/13845/2>


François Pottier announced
──────────────────────────

  I have just published a new release of `oma' with the following fixes
  and changes:

  • New functions `invalidate_open_interval' and
    `invalidate_semi_open_interval'.
  • Fix a serious bug in `Unsafe.first' and `Unsafe.last', which would
    incorrectly return `None' when the region contains only one point.
  • Fix a serious bug in `Unsafe.iter', which would systematically omit
    the last point of the region.


Ppxlib dev meetings
═══════════════════

  Archive: <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ppxlib-dev-meetings/12441/25>


Nathan Rebours announced
────────────────────────

  Meeting notes are available here:
  <https://github.com/ocaml-ppx/ppxlib/wiki/Dev-Meeting-2024-06-18>.

  Thanks to everyone who attended!

  Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday July 16th, 6:00PM CET!


CAISAR release 2.0, a platform for characterizing AI safety and robustness
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-caisar-release-2-0-a-platform-for-characterizing-ai-safety-and-robustness/14831/1>


Julien Girard announced
───────────────────────

  On the occasion of the 34th birthday of the [abolition of the
  apartheid laws], we are honoured to release CAISAR version 2.0.

  The release source is available at our [public forge]. As our last
  releases, CAISAR will soon be available on [opam] and on [Dockerhub].

  A nix flake is available for building CAISAR directly in the
  repository. Try CAISAR with `nix build
  git+https://git.frama-c.com/pub/caisar'!

  Here are the prominent features for this 2.0 release:


[abolition of the apartheid laws]
<https://www.dw.com/fr/il-y-a-25-ans-la-fin-de-lapartheid/a-18523920>

[public forge] <https://git.frama-c.com/pub/caisar/-/releases/2.0>

[opam] <https://opam.ocaml.org/packages/caisar/>

[Dockerhub] <https://hub.docker.com/r/laiser/caisar>

Specification and verification of several neural networks at once
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  CAISAR specification language already allowed to write specifications
  that involved several neural networks at once. However, translating
  such specifications to actual prover queries was not possible. We
  added automated graph editing techniques to allow such verification to
  take place. Within particular patterns, CAISAR will generate an ONNX
  file that preserve the semantic of the different neural networks while
  encapsulating parts of the specification directly in the control flow
  of the new neural network. This feature allow the verification of
  properties with multiple neural networks, including their composition.

  This is quite a step forward, as it enables machine-learning dedicated
  verifiers to tackle a much wider range of properties.


SVM as first-class citizens for interpretation
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  CAISAR now fully integrate SVMs into the interpretation engine. Users
  can expect vector computations and applications on SVMs to be computed
  similarly as what exists already for neural networks.

  We also unified the theory of machine learning models. Now, SVMs and
  neural networks can be specified with only the `model' type. In the
  near future, SVMs will be parsed directly into CAISAR’s Neural
  Intermediate Representations, which will simplify the verification of
  systems with heterogeneous AI components.


First release of baby
═════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-first-release-of-baby/14840/1>


François Pottier announced
──────────────────────────

  It is my pleasure to announce the first release of `baby'.

  `baby' is an OCaml library that offers several implementations of
  balanced binary search trees. At this time, `baby' offers a
  replacement for OCaml's `Set' module; it does not yet have a
  replacement for OCaml's `Map' module.

  Height-balanced and weight-balanced binary search trees are offered
  out of the box. Furthermore, to advanced users, the library offers a
  lightweight way of implementing other balancing strategies.

  The following points offer a comparison between `baby' and OCaml's
  `Set' library.


Better Performance
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  At the time of writing, `baby' offers generally better performance
  than OCaml's `Set' library. Its operations are generally faster
  (sometimes much faster; sometimes slightly faster; sometimes slightly
  slower) than those of the `Set' library, and its memory allocation
  rate is slightly lower.


Constant-Time Cardinal
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  In contrast with the `Set' library, `baby''s weight-balanced trees
  offer a `cardinal' function whose time complexity is *O(1)*. They also
  offer a family of random access functions (`get', `index', etc.) whose
  time complexity is *O(log n)*. Furthermore, by exploiting cardinality
  information, the functions `subset' and `equal' are sometimes able to
  return `false' in constant time.


Better Sharing
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  `baby''s binary operations (`union', `inter', `diff') take advantage
  of (and preserve) physical equality in a more aggressive way. This
  allows them to (sometimes) be faster and allocate less memory.


Adaptive Conversions To Sets
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  `baby''s conversion functions `of_list', `of_array', and `of_seq' have
  adaptive complexity. If the input data is sorted, their complexity is
  *O(n)*; otherwise, their complexity gracefully degrades down to
  *O(n.log n)*.


More Operations
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  `baby' offers a few operations that do not exist in OCaml's `Set'
  library:

  ⁃ The symmetric difference, `xor';
  ⁃ The conversion functions `of_array' and `to_array';
  ⁃ The extremum-removal functions `remove_min_elt' and
    `remove_max_elt';
  ⁃ The enumeration API in the submodule `Enum'. Enumerations should be
    slightly faster than standard sequences, and are able to efficiently
    seek ahead, via the function `from'.


Documented Complexity
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  In `baby', the time complexity of every operation is documented.


Compatibility
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  `baby' is perfectly compatible with OCaml's Set library. In other
  words, using `Baby.W.Set' instead of `Set' is safe.

  As a word of warning, though, if the equivalence relation on elements
  is coarser than equality (that is, if `compare x y = 0' does not imply
  `x = y'), then `Baby.W.Set' and `Set' might behave differently when a
  choice must be made between two equivalent elements. This can occur in
  `union', `of_list', `of_array', `of_seq', `add_seq', `map'.


Preview of Stripe client and mock server - DkStdRestApis
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-preview-of-stripe-client-and-mock-server-dkstdrestapis/14841/1>


jbeckford announced
───────────────────

  I am pleased to announce that Stripe is the first REST API available
  in the DkStdRestApis project:

  <https://github.com/diskuv/DkStdRestApis?tab=readme-ov-file>

  That README has a 10-minute quick start; you can do it with or without
  a Stripe account.

  The Stripe client and mock server have Apache 2.0 licensing and were
  generated using a new OpenAPI code generator. The code generator is
  not part of this preview announcement (wait until DkCoder 0.4
  announcement) but since there have been a couple generators released
  in the past month perhaps it is best to say what is different:

  1. Both client and server source code are generated. The client
     examples include direct web requests by cohttp-lwt-curl
     (`src/DkStdRestApis_NotStripe/Curl2.ml') and also indirectly by
     printing the `curl -d name=value https://api.stripe.com/...'
     command (`src/DkStdRestApis_NotStripe/CurlCmd.ml'). The mock server
     example (`src/DkStdRestApis_NotStripe/ServerTiny.ml') uses @c-cube
     's [excellent tiny_httpd daemon].
  2. Very small dependency cone that works on Windows/macOS/Linux
     (including the REST server). And the minimum OCaml version will be
     4.14 for the foreseeable future.
  3. My focus is not on the code generator but having working,
     maintainable REST clients for the major cloud/SaaS services that
     can be included in DkCoder's liberally licensed standard
     library. The server feature was a pleasant but very unplanned
     accident. If I do take time to develop fancier server features
     (ex. replaying mocks from a corpus, etc.) those additions will not
     be open source.
  4. It is intended to have high coverage of OpenAPI features. Today
     that includes form URL encoding, sum types, server-side
     polymorphism and style/explode support. The only major feature that
     is intentionally unsupported is the `not' composition operator
     (have no idea how to express negation in OCaml's type system!).

  Now for the problems:

  1. Stripe only compiles in bytecode mode. Why? The generated modules
     are huge (8+ MB in total) because Stripe's specification is
     6MB. Native compilation [can't handle that today].
  2. I'm not releasing to opam until I'm sure that native compilation
     won't denial-of-service developer and opam machines. I'm also
     waiting for some Windows patches to dependencies to be released.

  Thanks to @vlaviron for helping solve some of the compilation scaling
  problems. And thanks to Nomadic Labs (and OCamlPro?) for developing
  [Json_encoding] and @anuragsoni for developing [Routes]; they are both
  bidirectional + lightweight + foundational.

  Report bugs / add stars [in the DkCoder project].


[excellent tiny_httpd daemon] <https://v3.ocaml.org/p/tiny_httpd/latest>

[can't handle that today] <https://github.com/ocaml/ocaml/issues/13250>

[Json_encoding] <https://v3.ocaml.org/p/json-data-encoding/latest>

[Routes] <https://v3.ocaml.org/p/routes/latest/doc/index.html>

[in the DkCoder project] <https://github.com/diskuv/dkcoder>


opam 2.2.0 rc1 release
══════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-opam-2-2-0-rc1-release/14842/1>


R. Boujbel announced
────────────────────

  We’re once again very excited to announce this first release candidate
  (and hopefully only) for opam 2.2.0.


What’s new in this rc?
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  • Fix `opam upgrade' wanting to keep rebuilding the compiler (as now
    it contains an `x-env-path-rewrite' field)
  • Provide defaults so `opam init -y' no longer asks questions on
    Windows
  • Fix `OpamConsole.menu' when there are more than 9 options (can
    happen on Windows)
  • A couple more fixes and general improvements

  :open_book: You can read our [blog post ] for more information about
  these changes and more, and for even more details you can take a look
  at the [release note ] or the [changelog].


[blog post ] <https://opam.ocaml.org/blog/opam-2-2-0-rc1/>

[release note ] <https://github.com/ocaml/opam/releases/tag/2.2.0-rc1>

[changelog] <https://github.com/ocaml/opam/blob/2.2.0-rc1/CHANGES>


Windows issues
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  Configuration of Windows is tricky, so please don’t be too
  disheartened if things don’t work instantly. If something doesn’t work
  first time, [please do report it ], even if you manage to find a way
  to workaround it. If opam didn’t elegantly tell you what was wrong,
  then it’s a bug and we’d love to hear about it, rather than ending up
  with a series of workarounds flying around. It’s no problem at all for
  us to receive a bug report which turns out to be user error - we’d far
  rather that than not hear bugs which are opam’s error! :scream_cat:


[please do report it ] <https://github.com/ocaml/opam/issues>


How to upgrade
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  For Unix systems

  ┌────
  │ bash -c "sh <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocaml/opam/master/shell/install.sh) --version 2.2.0~rc1"
  └────

  or from PowerShell for Windows systems

  ┌────
  │ Invoke-Expression "& { $(Invoke-RestMethod https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocaml/opam/master/shell/install.ps1) }"
  └────

  We’re planning for a final opam 2.2.0 release next week, so please do
  report any issue you encounter on our [bug-tracker ].


[bug-tracker ] <https://github.com/ocaml/opam/issues>


Project wide occurrences
════════════════════════

  Archive:
  <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-project-wide-occurrences/14847/1>


vds announced
─────────────

  I am very excited to announce the first release of Merlin and
  Ocaml-LSP with support for project-wide occurrences 🥳. More
  precisely, it is now possible to query for every _usage_ of any value
  (and type, modules, etc.) anywhere in a project built with Dune. This
  is a very handy tool for code navigation !


Requirements
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  • OCaml 5.2
  • Latest Dune (>= `3.16.0')
  • Latest Merlin (>= `5.1-502')
  • Latest OCaml-LSP preview (`1.18.0~5.2preview')


Usage
╌╌╌╌╌

  • Build the new `@ocaml-index' alias.
  > We recommend running the indexation in watch mode along with your
    usual targets: `dune build @ocaml-index --watch' so that the index
    is always up to date.
  • Use the `Find/Peek all references' feature of LSP-based plugins
    • or `merlin-project-occurrences' in emacs
    • or `OccurrencesProjectWide' in vim.
  • Enjoy jumping around 🦘

  <https://global.discourse-cdn.com/business7/uploads/ocaml/original/2X/c/c282815986f60d12069d33bc13f22fcdb70f0022.gif>


More information and bug reports
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  Bug reports and feature requests should be submitted to the Merlin
  [issue tracker]. There are already some known issues like the absence
  of declarations in the results and the impossibility to query from a
  declaration. Progress on occurrences can be tracked in a [pinned
  meta-issue]. If you are interested in contributing and learning more
  about the feature do not hesitate to join the [first public
  dev-meeting] on Thursday !


[issue tracker] <https://github.com/ocaml/merlin/issues>

[pinned meta-issue] <https://github.com/ocaml/merlin/issues/1780>

[first public dev-meeting]
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-first-public-editor-tooling-dev-meeting/14824/1>


Other OCaml News
════════════════

From the ocaml.org blog
───────────────────────

  Here are links from many OCaml blogs aggregated at [the ocaml.org
  blog].

  • [Keeping Up With the Compiler: How we Help Maintain the OCaml
    Language]


[the ocaml.org blog] <https://ocaml.org/blog/>

[Keeping Up With the Compiler: How we Help Maintain the OCaml Language]
<https://tarides.com/blog/2024-06-19-keeping-up-with-the-compiler-how-we-help-maintain-the-ocaml-language>


Old CWN
═══════

  If you happen to miss a CWN, you can [send me a message] and I'll mail
  it to you, or go take a look at [the archive] or the [RSS feed of the
  archives].

  If you also wish to receive it every week by mail, you may subscribe
  to the [caml-list].

  [Alan Schmitt]


[send me a message] <mailto:alan.schmitt@polytechnique.org>

[the archive] <https://alan.petitepomme.net/cwn/>

[RSS feed of the archives] <https://alan.petitepomme.net/cwn/cwn.rss>

[caml-list] <https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/info/caml-list>

[Alan Schmitt] <https://alan.petitepomme.net/>


[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 32955 bytes --]