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

Alan Schmitt
2022-04-05T11:50:05Z

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Hello

Here is the latest OCaml Weekly News, for the week of March 29 to April
05, 2022.

Table of Contents
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v0.15 release of Jane Street packages
EmelleTV Show - 2022
Open source editor for iOS, iPadOS and macOS
The mysterious pointer in the runtime closure representation
Other OCaml News
Old CWN

v0.15 release of Jane Street packages
═════════════════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-v0-15-release-of-jane-street-packages/9612/1>

Arseniy Alekseyev announced
───────────────────────────

We are pleased to announce the v0.15 release of Jane Street packages!

This release comes with 41 new packages, and a large number of fixes
and enhancements. The documentation for the individual packages will
soon be available on [v3.ocaml.org/packages], after some technical
issues are fixed.

The remainder of this e-mail highlights the main changes since the
v0.14 release.

[v3.ocaml.org/packages] <https://v3.ocaml.org/packages>

Notable changes
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

Re-structuring of `Core'.
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

The most noticeable breaking change is the re-structuring of `Core'.

In 0.14, `Core' is somewhat bloated and includes many modules that are
barely ever used, many of which are Unix-specific. In 0.15, many of
those modules moved to separate libraries, most of them to
package~core_unix~, and `core' is now much smaller and no longer
contains unix-specific code.

The mapping between the new libraries and the old modules can be
summarized by the contents of `Core_compat' library v0.14:

┌────
│ module Command_unix = Core.Command
│ module Date_unix = Core.Date
│ module Filename_unix = Core.Filename
│ module Signal_unix = Core.Signal
│ module Sys_unix = Core.Sys
│ module Core_thread = Core.Thread
│ module Time_unix = Core.Time
│ module Time_ns_unix = Core.Time_ns
│ module Core_unix = Core.Unix
│ module Version_util = Core.Version_util
│
│ module Interval_lib = struct
│ module Interval = Core.Interval
│ module Interval_intf = Core.Interval_intf
│ end
│
│ module Time_interface = Core.Time_common
└────

Async: `Monitor.try_with'
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

`Monitor.try_with' and related functions changed the defaults for
their `run' and `rest' parameters. They used to default to
`~~run:~Schedule ~rest:~Log~', but now they default to `~~run:~Now
~rest:~Raise~'.

Many other changes
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

There are many changes and additions across 130+ existing packages,
and unfortunately we don't maintain a changelog to list them all. The
code for all of our packages is on our [github], and if you're
interested in the details of what changed in a particular package, you
can inspect the diff between branches v0.14 and v0.15.

[github] <https://github.com/janestreet>

New packages
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

[`abstract_algebra']: A small library describing abstract algebra
concepts

A library describing abstract algebra concepts. Currently, it includes
Commutative_group and Vector_space.

[`async_rpc_websocket']: Library to serve and dispatch Async RPCs over
websockets

Library to serve and dispatch Async RPCs over websockets.

Rpc_websocket makes it easy to serve and send Async RPCs with
HTTP+Websocket underlying the transport. It also provides a mechanism
to share the RPC implementations between a vanilla TCP server and a
HTTP server.

On the server side, the library detects when a websocket connection is
established, and routes to an optionally provided vanilla HTTP handler
when non-websocket traffic occurs.

[`bigdecimal']: Arbitrary-precision decimal based on Zarith

A high-precision representation of decimal numbers as [mantissa *
10^exponent], where the mantissa is internally a [Bigint.t] and the
exponent is an [int].

[`cohttp_async_websocket']: Websocket library for use with cohttp and
async

Websocket library for use with cohttp and async.

Cohttp_async_websocket is a full-featured server-side websocket
implementation, using Async as the concurrency library, and Cohttp for
HTTP negotiation.

It implements a large portion of RFC6445. The library has been
hardened with many applications using it for several year, in
conjunction with async-js and google-chrome.

[`cohttp_static_handler']: A library for easily creating a cohttp
handler for static files

Single page handlers are handlers that serve user specified JavaScript
and css files along with a generated index page that loads those
files.

[`core_compat']: Compatibility for core 0.14

Compatibility wrapper to make it possible to have code compatible with
both Core 0.14 and 0.15.

[`env_config']: Helper library for retrieving configuration from an
environment variable

The Env_config library is a helper for retrieving library and program
configuration from an environment variable. Its goal is to make it
easy to override a configuration that is loaded from disk, computed,
or embedded in a library.

[`file_path']: A library for typed manipulation of UNIX-style file
paths

A library for typed manipulation of UNIX-style file paths.

[`fuzzy_match']: A library for fuzzy string matching

A library for fuzzy string matching

[`fzf']: A library for running the fzf command line tool

A library for running the fzf command line fuzzy matcher

[`hardcaml_c']: Hardcaml C Simulation Backend

A fast C-based simulation backend for Hardcaml circuits.

The library transparently compiles a Hardcaml Circuit to C code, which
is in turn compiled and linked into the running executable. The
generated simulation object can be used like any other cyclesim
simulation.

[`hardcaml_circuits']: Hardcaml Circuits

A small library of useful/interesting Hardcaml circuits.

[`hardcaml_fixed_point']: Hardcaml fixed point arithmetic

Signed and Unsigned fixed point operations, with a full complement of
rounding and overflow functionality.

[`hardcaml_of_verilog']: Convert Verilog to a Hardcaml design

The opensource synthesis tool yosys is used to convert a verilog
design to a JSON based netlist representation. This library can load
the JSON netlist and build a hardcaml circuit.

Code can also be generated to wrap the conversion process using
Hardcaml interfaces.

[`hardcaml_step_testbench']: Hardcaml Testbench Monad

A monad for interacting with Hardcaml.Cyclesim based simulations.

Allows multiple control threads to interact with a simulation module,
all of which are synchronised to the system clock.

[`hardcaml_verify']: Hardcaml Verification Tools

Tools for verifying properties of Hardcaml circuits.

Combinational circuits can be converted to 'conjunctive normal form'
for input into SAT solvers via DIMAC files. Support for a few
opensource solvers is integrated - minisat, picosat, Z3 - just ensure
they are in your PATH.

Circuits can also be converted to NuSMV format for advanced bounded
and unbounded model checking tasks.

[`hardcaml_verilator']: Hardcaml Verilator Simulation Backend

Very fast verilator-based simulations of Hardcaml circuits.

This library transparently compiles a verilator-based shared library,
and links it back to the running executable to be used as a Cyclesim
simulation.

[`hardcaml_xilinx']: Hardcaml wrappers for Xilinx memory primitives

The Hardcaml_xilinx library provides wrappers for Xilinx specific RAM
and FIFO primitive blocks. In many cases a simulation model is
provided.

The `Synthesis' module implements various arithmetic and logical RTL
components with Xilinx LUT primitives.

[`hardcaml_xilinx_components']: Hardcaml Xilinx component definitions

A tool for reading Xilinx VHDL Unisim and XPM component definitions
from a Vivado installation and generating Hardcaml interfaces
automatically.

[`hex_encode']: Hexadecimal encoding library

This library implements hexadecimal encoding and decoding

[`hg_lib']: A library that wraps the Mercurial command line interface

A library that wraps the Mercurial command line interface.

[`int_repr']: Integers of various widths

Integers of various widths.

[`jsonaf']: A library for parsing, manipulating, and serializing data
structured as JSON

A library for parsing, manipulating, and serializing data structured
as JSON.

[`krb']: A library for using Kerberos for both Rpc and Tcp
communication

Jane Street's library for Kerberizing RPC connections so that
• the server gets an authenticated principal (i.e. username) with
every incoming connection, and
• RPC communication may be encrypted, if necessary.

[`magic-trace']: Easy Intel Processor Trace Visualizer

Magic-trace makes it easy to record and visualize Intel Processor
Trace data for debugging tricky performance issues.

[`ocaml-embed-file']: Files contents as module constants

Embed-file takes some files and generates code for an OCaml module
defining string constants containing the contents of those files.

[`ocaml_intrinsics']: Intrinsics

Provides functions to invoke amd64 instructions (such as
clz,popcnt,rdtsc,rdpmc) when available, or compatible software
implementation on other targets.

[`ocaml-probes']: USDT probes for OCaml: command line tool

A tool for controlling user-space statically-defined tracing probes
for OCaml. Experimental.

[`ppx_css']: A ppx that takes in css strings and produces a module for
accessing the unique names defined within

A ppx that takes in css strings and produces a module for accessing
the unique names defined within.

[`ppx_disable_unused_warnings']: Expands [@disable_unused_warnings]
into [@warning \"-20-26-32-33-34-35-36-37-38-39-60-66-67\"]

Part of the Jane Street's PPX rewriters collection.

[`ppx_ignore_instrumentation']: Ignore Jane Street specific
instrumentation extensions

Ignore Jane Street specific instrumentation extensions from internal
PPXs or compiler features not yet upstreamed.

[`ppx_jsonaf_conv']: [@@deriving] plugin to generate Jsonaf conversion
functions

Part of the Jane Street's PPX rewriters collection.

[`ppx_typed_fields']: GADT-based field accessors and utilities

Part of the Jane Street's PPX rewriters collection.

[`ppx_type_directed_value']: Get [@@deriving]-style generation of
type-directed values without writing a ppx

`Ppx_type_directed_value' is a ppx that does `[@@deriving]'-style
generation of type-directed values based on user-provided modules. The
user-provided modules tell `ppx_type_directed_value' how to compose
type-directed values (for example, combine type-directed values of the
fields of a record to form a type-directed value for the record
itself).

This allows a wide variety of PPXs such as `ppx_sexp_conv',
`ppx_compare', `ppx_enumerate', etc. to be implemented with
`ppx_type_directed_value', but with some runtime cost.

This PPX currently supports deriving type-directed values for records,
ordinary & polymorphic variants and tuples. It also supports custom
user-defined attributes on record and variant fields.

[`profunctor']: A library providing a signature for simple profunctors
and traversal of a record

This is a very small library which provides a signature for profunctor
types and operations which can be used to traverse a record with them
based on record_builder and the `ppx_fields' syntax extension.

[`redis-async']: Redis client for Async applications

A client library for Redis versions 6 and higher.

Provides a strongly-typed API with transparent (de)serialization for
application-defined types.

Supports client tracking and internally uses the RESP3 protocol.

[`sexp_diff']: Code for computing the diff of two sexps

The code behind the [diff] subcommand of the Jane Street's [sexp]
command line tool.

[`sexp_grammar']: Sexp grammar helpers

Helpers for manipulating [Sexplib.Sexp_grammar] values.

[`sexp_string_quickcheck']: Quickcheck helpers for strings parsing to
sexps

This library provides quickcheck generators, helpers, and shrinkers
for quickcheck-based tests that wish to exercise the concrete syntax
of sexps, including escape sequences and comments.

[`tracing']: Tracing library

Utilities for creating and parsing traces in Fuchsia Trace Format.

[`username_kernel']: An identifier for a user

A string representation for a user, typically a UNIX username

[`abstract_algebra'] <https://github.com/janestreet/abstract_algebra>

[`async_rpc_websocket']
<https://github.com/janestreet/async_rpc_websocket>

[`bigdecimal'] <https://github.com/janestreet/bigdecimal>

[`cohttp_async_websocket']
<https://github.com/janestreet/cohttp_async_websocket>

[`cohttp_static_handler']
<https://github.com/janestreet/cohttp_static_handler>

[`core_compat'] <https://github.com/janestreet/core_compat>

[`env_config'] <https://github.com/janestreet/env_config>

[`file_path'] <https://github.com/janestreet/file_path>

[`fuzzy_match'] <https://github.com/janestreet/fuzzy_match>

[`fzf'] <https://github.com/janestreet/fzf>

[`hardcaml_c'] <https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_c>

[`hardcaml_circuits'] <https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_circuits>

[`hardcaml_fixed_point']
<https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_fixed_point>

[`hardcaml_of_verilog']
<https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_of_verilog>

[`hardcaml_step_testbench']
<https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_step_testbench>

[`hardcaml_verify'] <https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_verify>

[`hardcaml_verilator']
<https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_verilator>

[`hardcaml_xilinx'] <https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_xilinx>

[`hardcaml_xilinx_components']
<https://github.com/janestreet/hardcaml_xilinx_components>

[`hex_encode'] <https://github.com/janestreet/hex_encode>

[`hg_lib'] <https://github.com/janestreet/hg_lib>

[`int_repr'] <https://github.com/janestreet/int_repr>

[`jsonaf'] <https://github.com/janestreet/jsonaf>

[`krb'] <https://github.com/janestreet/krb>

[`magic-trace'] <https://github.com/janestreet/magic-trace>

[`ocaml-embed-file'] <https://github.com/janestreet/ocaml-embed-file>

[`ocaml_intrinsics'] <https://github.com/janestreet/ocaml_intrinsics>

[`ocaml-probes'] <https://github.com/janestreet/ocaml-probes>

[`ppx_css'] <https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_css>

[`ppx_disable_unused_warnings']
<https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_disable_unused_warnings>

[`ppx_ignore_instrumentation']
<https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_ignore_instrumentation>

[`ppx_jsonaf_conv'] <https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_jsonaf_conv>

[`ppx_typed_fields'] <https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_typed_fields>

[`ppx_type_directed_value']
<https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_type_directed_value>

[`profunctor'] <https://github.com/janestreet/profunctor>

[`redis-async'] <https://github.com/janestreet/redis-async>

[`sexp_diff'] <https://github.com/janestreet/sexp_diff>

[`sexp_grammar'] <https://github.com/janestreet/sexp_grammar>

[`sexp_string_quickcheck']
<https://github.com/janestreet/sexp_string_quickcheck>

[`tracing'] <https://github.com/janestreet/tracing>

[`username_kernel'] <https://github.com/janestreet/username_kernel>

EmelleTV Show - 2022
════════════════════

Archive: <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/emelletv-show-2022/9613/1>

David Sancho announced
──────────────────────

I'm creating a post as a header from this season of *EmelleTV* in
2020. Will use this post to share announcements, new shows, gather
feedback and invite you to watch and follow
[https://www.twitch.tv/emelletv]!

For the ones who doesn't know us, It's a streaming show that will
happen once per month and will try to interview and talk casually
about OCaml, Reason, ReScript and their communities. Inviting
interesting engineers and ask silly questions about literally
anything.

If can't attend live, we publish the VOD in youtube under
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVVfCa7-nzSuCdMKXnNJNQ]. You can
re-watch some of the 2021 interviews, they were a ton of fun for me.

It's made by myself and @fakenickels.

Feel free to share any feedback, propose any guest or make fun of us
^^

[https://www.twitch.tv/emelletv] <https://www.twitch.tv/emelletv>

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVVfCa7-nzSuCdMKXnNJNQ]
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVVfCa7-nzSuCdMKXnNJNQ>

Open source editor for iOS, iPadOS and macOS
════════════════════════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/open-source-editor-for-ios-ipados-and-macos/7624/21>

Nathan Fallet announced
───────────────────────

Just released the app on the Play Store for Android: [Play Store]

Feel free to give your feedback as well. I tried to make it like the
iOS/macOS version. For now, the only missing feature is syntax
highlighting, but I'm working on it (I still have a few bugs with it)

[Play Store]
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.nathanfallet.ocaml>

The mysterious pointer in the runtime closure representation
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/the-mysterious-pointer-in-the-runtime-closure-representation/9560/7>

Deep in this thread, Yue Li Picasso announced
─────────────────────────────────────────────

Thanks for your replies @silene @zozozo ! Due to project interest I
need to understand the runtime value representation. Now I released a
little library for displaying runtime values in textual form:
[OInspect].

[OInspect] <https://github.com/YueLiPicasso/OInspect>

Other OCaml News
════════════════

From the ocamlcore planet blog
──────────────────────────────

Here are links from many OCaml blogs aggregated at [OCaml Planet].

• [MirageOS 4 Released!]
• [PhD Position at CEA LIST - LSL]
• [All your metrics belong to influx]
• [Secure Virtual Messages in a Bottle with SCoP]
• [Research internships in our Tools and Compilers group]

[OCaml Planet] <http://ocaml.org/community/planet/>

[MirageOS 4 Released!]
<https://tarides.com/blog/2022-03-29-mirageos-4-released>

[PhD Position at CEA LIST - LSL]
<http://frama-c.com/jobs/2022-03-28-machine-learning-for-improving-formal-verification-of-code.html>

[All your metrics belong to influx]
<https://hannes.nqsb.io/Posts/Monitoring>

[Secure Virtual Messages in a Bottle with SCoP]
<https://tarides.com/blog/2022-03-08-secure-virtual-messages-in-a-bottle-with-scop>

[Research internships in our Tools and Compilers group]
<https://blog.janestreet.com/research-internships-tnc/>

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
[online].

[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>

[online] <http://lists.idyll.org/listinfo/caml-news-weekly/>

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

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Pour une évaluation indépendante, transparente et rigoureuse !
Je soutiens la Commission d'Évaluation de l'INRIA.