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

Alan Schmitt
2022-02-01T13:07:20Z

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Hello

Here is the latest OCaml Weekly News, for the week of January 25 to
February 01, 2022.

Table of Contents
─────────────────

ppx_seq v0.1.1
OCaml Labs Joins Tarides
For Diversity and the OCaml Community: Get Involved in Outreachy Summer 2022
Set up OCaml 2.0.0-beta13
First release of scfg
Brr 0.0.3, a toolkit for programming browsers
(anonymous?) polymorphic records
2 postdoc positions on Runtime Verification at CEA LIST, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Old CWN

ppx_seq v0.1.1
══════════════

Archive: <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-ppx-seq-v0-1-1/9227/1>

hyphenrf announced
──────────────────

Hello everyone, my first contribution to opam-repository has just been
merged and is waiting to hit the caches of [opam.ocaml.org].

[ppx_seq] is a cute un-intrusive literal syntax for `Seq'. The
rewriter is simple and has very small surface area: just `[%seq x; y;
z; ...]' and `[%seq.empty]'. It tries to be maximally compatible with
all OCaml releases from 4.07 (when `Seq' was introduced) to 4.14 and
beyond

The reason I created this rewriter is to make it an easier choice to
reach first for `Seq' as a general data structure (instead of
e.g. list). That wasn't quite attractive before because of how minimal
the `Seq' module was, it was mostly used as an intermediate step
between two types of collections, but now with 4.14 about to be
released, `Seq' is becoming a first-class data structure with a very
versatile API.

I hope my little rewriter helps make it even more attractive to
use. Check it out and maybe leave me some feedback. Thanks <3

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

[ppx_seq] <https://github.com/hyphenrf/ppx_seq>

OCaml Labs Joins Tarides
════════════════════════

Archive: <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ocaml-labs-joins-tarides/9229/1>

Thomas Gazagnaire announced
───────────────────────────

Gemma Gordon (@gemmag) and I are delighted to announce that OCaml
Labs, a spinout from the University of Cambridge, is joining
Tarides. After successfully collaborating on many OCaml projects over
the last four years, this alliance will formally combine the expertise
of both groups. Joining forces will accelerate OCaml development and
its broader adoption, and enable us to continue with our shared goal
of bringing OCaml into mainstream use. Furthermore, it will bring the
security, portability and performance of OCaml to a large spectrum of
use-cases: from academic endeavours such as formal methods and
existing threats within cyber security, to real-world applications for
climate change, sustainable agriculture, and even space exploration!

All of OCaml Labs’ existing responsibilities and open source
commitments will migrate over to Tarides, and thanks to how closely
the teams already work, business will continue without interruption to
continuity or delivery. Gemma Gordon will step up as CEO of Tarides,
and I will lead the technological vision and strategy as CTO.

The OCaml 5.0 release will support multicore and effects handlers,
influencing every aspect of the language and its ecosystem. The update
will significantly improve both performance and user experience,
whilst maintaining existing features that the community loves. Using
the teams’ combined experience and zest for innovation, Tarides is
looking to the future of the OCaml language and community with
excitement. Since Tarides’ inception we have envisioned a future where
all OCaml applications are easily deployable as specialised, secure
and energy-efficient MirageOS unikernels. We believe that this
alliance is a step further in that direction.

_This alliance will complement the commercial offerings of Tarides and
contribute to Tarides' mission: empowering developers, communities and
organisations to adopt OCaml as their primary programming experience
by providing training, expertise and development services around the
OCaml language._

Read the full announcement [here], including details of our goals and
the focus for 2022. This alliance brings the headcount of Tarides up
to 60+ people, all working towards making OCaml the best language for
any, and every project. Join our team and reach out for commercial
services at: [https://tarides.com/]

[here] <https://tarides.com/blog>

[https://tarides.com/] <https://tarides.com/company>

For Diversity and the OCaml Community: Get Involved in Outreachy Summer 2022
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/for-diversity-and-the-ocaml-community-get-involved-in-outreachy-summer-2022/9234/1>

Sonja Heinze announced
──────────────────────

As @patricoferris [has mentioned] previously, the Outreachy call for
open-source communities and project submissions has started. As a
reminder, [Outreachy] is an initiative that provides a framework
through which open-source communities can offer three month
internships directed at people from any kind of under-represented
background in open source. With that, Outreachy helps open-source
communities grow on several levels: diversity, experience, size, and
popularity.

The OCaml community participated in Outreachy in summer 2019, summer
2020, [summer 2021], and currently in [winter 2021/22]. All our
interns have done and are doing really amazing jobs, and summer 2022
is just around the corner! The following timeline illustrates the
process:

<https://i.imgur.com/DbzeiMO.png>

So let's start getting involved!

[has mentioned]
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/become-an-outreachy-mentor-support-the-growth-and-diversity-of-the-ocaml-community/8213/15?u=pitag>

[Outreachy] <https://www.outreachy.org>

[summer 2021] <https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/outreachy-summer-2021/8438>

[winter 2021/22]
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/announcing-our-new-outreachy-interns/8932>

Ways to Get Involved
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

Community members can take on different roles in the Outreachy effort,
and all of them are very important! Maybe the most important (and most
involved) role is being a mentor.

Mentoring
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

Mentors have two responsibilities: leading the project and guiding the
interns/applicants.

Leading the Project
┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

One responsability is leading the project. Concretely, that means
outlining an internship project, submitting a project description to
Outreachy, making sure that the context repo for that project gets
ready for the application/"contribution" phase, and guiding the
project throughout the internship, including reacting to changes. All
of that must match the Outreachy framework, which we [explained in
detail] last round, based on the timeline structure shown above.

[explained in detail]
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/become-an-outreachy-mentor-support-the-growth-and-diversity-of-the-ocaml-community/8213#step-by-step-process-for-being-a-mentor-11>

Guiding the Intern and the Applicants
┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Their other responsibility is personal guidance. During the
application/"contribution" period, mentors answer questions and review
code for multiple applicants. During the internship, they also offer
pair-programming sessions and facilitate more specific guidance, and
general support for their interns.

All of that is usually quite time-intensive, so it's important to have
some support from other community members and strong support from a
concrete co-mentor.

Co-mentoring
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

A co-mentor does the same job as described in the "Guiding the Intern
and the Applicants" tasks above, so having a co-mentor is very
important! Of course, if a co-mentor also wants to take part in the
project's direction, that's great as well! This means that the line
between co-mentoring and mentoring isn't always clear.

Volunteering (aka "Acting as a Joker :bat:")
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

Mentors and co-mentors receive a lot of general questions related to
OCaml and programming in addition to specific questions about the
project. That's where Outreachy volunteers can be very helpful! They
help all applicants and interns across projects with (usually)
project-unspecific questions and give a very important technical base
support.

Point Out Potential Project Ideas
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

Apart from not having enough time, the main reason that stops folks
from becoming a mentor is the lack of project ideas. So if you have
potential project ideas, please point them out, even if you don't have
time to mentor! Generally, a self-contained, uncontroversial, and
incremental project makes the most suitable project for Outreachy.
It's also important for a project to be associated with a repo that
can serve as a basis for easy contributions during the application
phase. When in doubt, don't keep your ideas to yourself. Any idea can
be helpful!

Prepare Your Repos
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

In general, if you maintain a repo, it's really nice to be welcoming
to new contributors. Concretely, that means having clear contributing
guidelines, good newcomer issues, and well-labeled issues. As a nice
side-effect, this also makes your project a better target for future
Outreachy projects.

Ready to Get Involved?
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

If you've gotten interested in any of those roles or have any other
comments, please just answer here in the thread. It would be super
nice to get a discussion going and start our Outreachy efforts early!

Sudha Parimala then said
────────────────────────

I along with @shakthimaan @gs0510 are submitting a project:

• Extend OCaml 5's parallel benchmark suite.

The idea is to gather parallel benchmarks available elsewhere and make
them available in our benchmark suite, to aid the development of the
OCaml compiler and parallel programming libraries. Relevant repos:
[sandmark] and [current-bench].

[sandmark] <https://github.com/ocaml-bench/sandmark>

[current-bench] <https://github.com/ocurrent/current-bench>

Set up OCaml 2.0.0-beta13
═════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-set-up-ocaml-2-0-0-beta13/9248/1>

Sora Morimoto announced
───────────────────────

Changed
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

• Do not install opam-depext if it's not enabled.

Fixed
╌╌╌╌╌

• Print a proper error if the version not found in the `.ocamlformat'
file.

<https://github.com/ocaml/setup-ocaml/releases/tag/v2.0.0-beta13>

First release of scfg
═════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-first-release-of-scfg/9249/1>

zapashcanon announced
─────────────────────

I'm pleased to announce the first release of [scfg] on opam.

It provides a library and an executable to work with the [scfg
configuration file format]. (disclaimer: scfg has been created by my
good friend @emersion)

Here's an example of an scfg file taken from the specification:

┌────
│ train "Shinkansen" {
│ model "E5" {
│ max-speed 320km/h
│ weight 453.5t
│
│ lines-served "Tōhoku" "Hokkaido"
│ }
│
│ model "E7" {
│ max-speed 275km/h
│ weight 540t
│
│ lines-served "Hokuriku" "Jōetsu"
│ }
│ }
└────

Scfg is a file format designed to be simple and indeed the
implementation was really straightforward. I'm planning to use it in
small tools I wrote (mostly [sway] tools written in OCaml) but never
released because I couldn't stand having to use TOML, YAML or JSON for
them…

The library provides an executable to validate and pretty-print an
scfg file. It'll indent it properly, remove useless quoting and
whitespaces:

┌────
│ $ scfg spec.scfg
│ train Shinkansen {
│ model E5 {
│ max-speed 320km/h
│ weight 453.5t
│ lines-served Tōhoku Hokkaido
│ }
│ model E7 {
│ max-speed 275km/h
│ weight 540t
│ lines-served Hokuriku Jōetsu
│ }
│ }
└────

The library is made of four modules : `Types', `Parse', `Pp' and
`Query'.

The `Types' module simply defines the following types, which are all
you need to deal with scfg:

┌────
│ (** A directive has a name, a list of parameters and children (a list of directive). *)
│ type directive =
│ { name : string
│ ; params : string list
│ ; children : directive list
│ }
│
│ (** A config is a list of directives. *)
│ type config = directive list
└────

The others modules can be used as follow:

┌────
│ let file = {|
│ train A-Train {
│ bla bla bla
│ }
│ train "John Col Train" {
│ tut tut tut
│ }
│ |}
│
│ (* parsing the file *)
│ let config =
│ (* there's also a `Parse.from_file` function that should be more useful *)
│ match Scfg.Parse.from_string file with
│ | Error e ->
│ Format.eprintf "error: %s@." e;
│ exit 1
│ | Ok config -> config
│
│ (* printing the file *)
│ let () =
│ Format.printf "```scfg@.%a@.```@." Scfg.Pp.config config
│
│ (* querying the file *)
│ let () =
│ (* gets the first directive with the name `train` *)
│ match Scfg.Query.get_dir "train" config with
│ | None -> Format.printf "No train found.@."
│ | Some train -> (
│ (* get the parameter at index 0 in the `train` directive *)
│ match Scfg.Query.get_param 0 train with
│ | Error _e -> Format.printf "Train has no name.@."
│ | Ok name -> Format.printf "The first train is `%s`.@." name )
└────

For more have a look at the [project's README], the [documentation] or
feel free to ask here ! :partying_face:

[scfg] <https://git.zapashcanon.fr/zapashcanon/scfg>

[scfg configuration file format] <https://git.sr.ht/~emersion/scfg>

[sway] <https://swaywm.org/>

[project's README]
<https://git.zapashcanon.fr/zapashcanon/scfg/src/branch/master#scfg>

[documentation] <https://doc.zapashcanon.fr/scfg/>

Brr 0.0.3, a toolkit for programming browsers
═════════════════════════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-brr-0-0-3-a-toolkit-for-programming-browsers/9252/1>

Daniel Bünzli announced
───────────────────────

It's my pleasure to announce the release `0.0.3' of [`Brr'], a toolkit
for programming browsers in OCaml with the [`js_of_ocaml'] compiler.

Once it has made it to the repo, install with `opam install brr' and
consult the [API docs and manuals] (or via `odig doc brr').

Among small additions and fixes, this release brings support for
`js_of_ocaml' 4.0.0. Thanks to Hugo Heuzard (@hhugo) who has made the
ground work in `js_of_ocaml' this means that:

1. `Brr', `js_of_ocaml' and ([soon]) `gen_js_api' JavaScript bindings
can now all be used in the same program without problems (issue
[#2]).
2. You no longer need to specify the `-no-check-prim' flag at
bytecode link time. Linking against the `brr' library is
sufficient, see the [build instructions].

The [release notes] have all the details.

[`Brr'] <https://erratique.ch/software/brr>

[`js_of_ocaml'] <https://ocsigen.org/js_of_ocaml>

[API docs and manuals] <https://erratique.ch/software/brr/doc/>

[soon] <https://github.com/LexiFi/gen_js_api/pull/164>

[#2] <https://github.com/dbuenzli/brr/issues/2>

[build instructions]
<https://erratique.ch/software/brr/doc/web_page_howto.html>

[release notes]
<https://github.com/dbuenzli/brr/blob/master/CHANGES.md#v003-2022-01-30-la-forclaz-vs>

(anonymous?) polymorphic records
════════════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/anonymous-polymorphic-records/9256/1>

nrolland asked
──────────────

Is there a way to avoid to create records only to preserve
polymorphism ?

Say, for this, in haskell style
┌────
│ h :: (forall r. (r -> a) -> (f r -> f b)) -> f a -> f b
│ h malg = malg id
└────

octachron replied
─────────────────

You can use objects, they can have polymorphic methods:

┌────
│ let f (id:<f:'a. 'a -> 'a>) = id#f 0, id#f "zero"
└────

Maëlan also replied
───────────────────

The following doesn’t help reducing the syntactic noise, but note that
when using a record for non-prenex polymorphism like this, your record
has only one field and is immutable, so (with a recent enough OCaml)
you can unbox it and get rid of the runtime overhead:

┌────
│ type ('a, 'b) fwrap = { f : 'r. ('r -> 'a) -> 'r list -> 'b list } [@@unboxed]
│
│ let apply_id : type a b. (a, b) fwrap -> a list -> b list =
│ fun w xs -> w.f Fun.id xs
│ (* is compiled the same as just: *)
│ let apply_id_magic : type a b. (a, b) fwrap -> a list -> b list =
│ fun w xs -> (Obj.magic w) Fun.id xs
│
│ let mwrap : type a. (a, a) fwrap = { f = List.map }
│ (* is compiled to nothing at all (alias of List.map). *)
└────

2 postdoc positions on Runtime Verification at CEA LIST, Université Paris-Saclay, France
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Archive:
<https://sympa.inria.fr/sympa/arc/caml-list/2022-02/msg00001.html>

Julien Signoles announced
─────────────────────────

The Software Safety and Security Lab at CEA LIST, Université
Paris-Saclay, France has 2 open postdoc positions in the area of
runtime verification for code safety and security:

• Designing Compilation Techniques for Improving Efficiency of E-ACSL,
a Runtime Assertion Checker for C Programs

<http://julien-signoles.fr/positions/postdoc-eacsl.pdf>

• Control Flow Integrity for Remote Attestation

<http://julien-signoles.fr/positions/postdoc-cfi.pdf>

The candidates will:
• solve challenging research problems;
• implement their results in Frama-C, an industrial-strength
open-source framework for analyses of C code;
• evaluate their solutions on concrete benchmarks or/and use cases;
• publish their results in international conferences and journals.

Strong knowledge in at least one of the following areas is welcome:
• programming
• OCaml and C
• formal semantics
• formal verification
• runtime verification, static analysis, formal specification
languages, …
• compilation
• code generation, program transformation, type system, …

Interested applicants should send a CV and a motivation letter to
Julien Signoles (julien dot signoles at cea dot fr).

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].

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[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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