OCaml Weekly News

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Here is the latest OCaml Weekly News, for the week of July 02 to 09, 2024.

The Structure of Godotcaml as of Today, by Matt Walker [Fizzix= nerd]

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.o= rg/t/blog-the-structure-of-godotcaml-as-of-today-by-matt-walker-fizzixnerd/= 14892/1

Matt Walker announced

Fixed some bugs in the Godot OCaml bindings I'm working on. Here is a blog= post that could be of interest if you're looking to dive into them, or usi= ng Ctypes in another project, or are writing Godot bindings for another lan= guage, or just have some time to kill. :smiley:=20

https://fizzixnerd.com/blog/2024-07-02-the-structure-of-god= otcaml-as-of-today/

opam 2.2.0 is out!

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-opam-2-2-0-is-out/14893/1

Kate announced

We=E2=80=99re very happy to finally announce the release of opam 2.2.0.

What=E2=80=99s new?

Windows support :window: :tada: (you can hear all about it in th= e blog post)
opam tree / opam why: new commands showing a = tree view of the given packages and their dependencies and reverse-dependen= cies, respectively.
with-dev-setup: a new variable and argument to install the= recommend developement setup for a local project.
opam pin --recursive and --subpath to have op= am look at opam files elsewhere than the root directory of a project.
opam switch - to go back to the previous global switch (in= spired by git switch -)
opam pin --current fixes a package to its current state (d= isabling pending reinstallations or removals from the repository)
opam pin remove --all removes all the pinned packages from= a switch
opam exec --no-switch removes the opam environment when ru= nning a command. It is useful when you want to launch a command without opa= m environment changes.
opam clean --untracked removes untracked files interactive= ly remaining from previous packages removal.
opam admin add-constraint <cst> --packages pkg1,pkg2,pkg3 applies the given constraint to a given set of packages


opam list --base has been renamed into --invariant, reflecting the fact that since opam 2.1 the "base" packages of a swi=
tch are instead expressed using a switch invariant

opam install --formula <formula> installs a formula =
instead of a list of packages. This can be useful if you would like to inst=
all one package or another one. For example opam install --formula '"=
extlib" | "extlib-compat"' will install either extlib o=
r extlib-compat depending on what's best for the current switc=
h.
and many other features, performance improvements and fixes




:open_book: You can read our blog post for more information about these changes and a lot more.




How to upgrade


In case you plan a possible rollback, you may want to first backup your



~/.opam or $env:LOCALAPPDATA\opam directory.



The upgrade instructions are unchanged:



For Unix systems


bash -c "sh <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocaml/opam/ma=
ster/shell/install.sh) --version 2.2.0"



or from PowerShell for Windows systems


Invoke-Expression "& { $(Invoke-RestMethod https://raw.githubuserconten=
t.com/ocaml/opam/master/shell/install.ps1) }"



or download manually from the Github "Releases" page to your PATH.



You should then run:


opam init --reinit -ni







OCaml.org Newsletter: June 2024


Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ocaml-org-newsletter-june-2024/148=
98/1




Sabine Schmaltz announced


Welcome to the June 2024 edition of the OCaml.org newsletter! This update h=
as been compiled by the OCaml.org team. You can find previous updates on Discuss.



Our goal is to make OCaml.org the best resource for anyone who wants to get=
 started and be productive in OCaml. The OCaml.org newsletter provides an u=
pdate on our progress towards that goal and an overview of the changes we a=
re working on.



We couldn't do it without all the amazing people who help us review, revise=
, and create better OCaml documentation and work on issues. Your participat=
ion enables us to so much more than we could just by ourselves. Thank you!



This newsletter covers:


Recipes for the OCaml Cookbook: Help us make the OCaml Cookbook =
really useful by contributing and reviewing recipes for common tasks!
Community & Marketing Pages Rework: Implementation work in p=
rogress.
General Improvements: As usual, we also worked on general mainte=
nance and improvements, so we're highlighting some of the work that happene=
d below.




Open Issues for Contributors


You can find open issues for co=
ntributors here!





Recipes for the OCaml Cookbook


The OCaml Cookbook is a place where OCaml developers share how to solve com=
mon tasks using packages from the ecosystem.



A recipe is a code sample and explanations on how to perform a task using a=
 combination of open-source libraries.



The Cookbook is live at ocaml.org/co=
okbook.



Here's how you can help:



Review, then open pull requests for cookbook recipes!

Contribute new recipes and tasks for the cookbook!



Relevant PRs and Activities:


(open) PR: Cookbook Extract Links From HTML ocaml/ocaml.org#2552 by @ggsmith842
(open) PR: Cookbook Measures of Central Tendency ocaml/ocaml.org#2540 by @ggsmith842
(open) PR: Cookbook Send a POST/PATCH Request w/ Authentication ocaml/ocaml.org#2534<=
/li>
PR: Cookbook Normalise Vector ocaml/ocaml.org#2513 by @ggsmith842
PR: (docs) Cookbook "Validate an Email Address" With re ocaml/ocaml.org#2518=
 by @ggsmith842







Community & Marketing Pages Rework


We have UI designs for the reworked and new pages of the =
community section, and implementation is in progress.



Relevant PRs and Activities:



PR: Events feed ocaml/ocaml.org#2495 by @ishar=
19
(open) PR: OCaml In Numbers: A dashboard with key metrics and statistic=
s about the OCaml community ocaml/ocaml.org#2514 by @tmattio
PR: Add fields professor, enrollment, and last_check to Ac=
ademic ocaml/ocaml=
.org#2489 by @cuihtlauac<=
/li>
PR: Fix: render full title of OCaml Cookbook recipe as HTML page title =
 ocaml/ocaml.org#2=
560  by @sabine





General Improvements and Data Additions


Summary:



To reduce repetition of the module interface definitions relating to ood-gen (the tool that turns the files in the data/=
 folder into OCaml modules), types have been factored out. This hopefully m=
akes it simpler to contribute to changes to the data models.
Materials for some of the tutorials have been published under the https://github.com/ocaml-web GitHub=
 organisation: =E2=80=9CYour First OCaml Program=E2=80=9D, =E2=80=9CModules=E2=80=9D=
, =E2=
=80=9CFunctors=E2=80=9D, and =E2=80=9CLibraries With Dune=E2=80=9D.
The OCamlFormat version used to format the project is now 0.26.2.



Relevant PRs and Activities:


PR: Update code highlighting color scheme ocaml/ocaml.org#2496 by @Siddhant-K-code
Data

PR: (data) Add OCaml.org newsletter May 2024 ocaml/ocaml.org#2498 by @sabine
PR: Add changelog entry for Merlin 4.15-414/501 ocaml/ocaml.org#2473 by =
@voodoos
PR: Add the announement for opam 2.2.0~beta3 ocaml/ocaml.org#2509 by @kit-ty-kate
PR: Add missing changelog entries ocaml/ocaml.org#2476  by @tmattio
PR: Add changelog entry for ppxlib.0.32.1 release ocaml/ocaml.org#2479 =
by @NathanReb
PR: (data) add odoc dev meeting to governance ocaml/ocaml.org#2521  by <=
a href=3D"https://github.com/sabine">@sabine
PR: (data) Update meeting link and frequency in governance for OCaml.or=
g ocaml/ocaml.org#=
2542  by @sabine

Documentation:

PR: Prerequisites for Libraries With Dune ocaml/ocaml.org#2551  by @cuihtlauac
Added repositories holding materials for some of the tutorials at https://github.com/ocalm-web

PR:~ocaml-web~ repo link ocaml/ocaml.org#2547  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Prerequisites and ocaml-web repo link ocaml/ocaml.org#2544  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Prerequisites and ocaml-web repo link ocaml/ocaml.org#2543  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Fix typo in 0it_00_values_functions.md ocaml/ocaml.org#2548  by @boisgera
PR: ocaml-web tutorial material URLs ocaml/ocaml.org#2550  by @cuihtlauac

PR: In "Modules" tutorial: Fix dune files ocaml/ocaml.org#2535  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Fix typo in "Tour of OCaml"  ocaml/ocaml.org#2519 by @blackwindforce
PR: Clarification on pattern matching and definitions ocaml/ocaml.org#2500 by @cuihtlauac

Refactoring / Code health:

Factor out types on ood-gen tool that parses the files in =
the data/ folder:

PR: Single data type definition for Outreachy ocaml/ocaml.org#2481  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Resource ocaml/ocaml.org#2533  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type defintion for Success_story ocaml/ocaml.org#2536  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type defintion for Tool ocaml/ocaml.org#2538  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single type for Tool_page ocaml/ocaml.org#2539  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single type for Book ocaml/ocaml.org#2488  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Exercise ocaml/ocaml.org#2497  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definitions for Planet ocaml/ocaml.org#2529 by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Release ocaml/ocaml.org#2531 by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Changelog ocaml/ocaml.org#2492  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Cookbook ocaml/ocaml.org#2490  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Governance ocaml/ocaml.org#2504  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definitions for Tutorial ocaml/ocaml.org#2555  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Event ocaml/ocaml.org#2559 by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Industrial_user ocaml/ocaml.org#2505  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single type for Is_ocaml_yet ocaml/ocaml.org#2508  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single type definition for Job ocaml/ocaml.org#2516  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for News ocaml/ocaml.org#2520  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type defintion for opam_user ocaml/ocaml.org#2522  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Workshop ocaml/ocaml.org#2541  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type defintion for Watch ocaml/ocaml.org#2545  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Page ocaml/ocaml.org#2524  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Paper ocaml/ocaml.org#2526  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Academic_Institution ocaml/ocaml.org#2477 by @cuihtlauac
PR: Single data type definition for Code_examples ocaml/ocaml.org#2501  by @cuihtlauac

PR: Remove redundant data type Watch ocaml/ocaml.org#2507 by @cuihtlauac
Increase OCamlFormat version used to format the project from 0.25.1 to =
0.26.2

PR: Bringup OCamlFormat ocaml/ocaml.org#2482  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Formatting ocaml/ocaml.org#2484  by @cu=
ihtlauac
PR: Add information on switch pin update ocaml/ocaml.org#2483  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Bringup OCamlFormat in CI ocaml/ocaml.org#2485  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Add information on switch pin update, cont'd ocaml/ocaml.org#2486  by @cuihtlauac

PR: Rename Utils map_files into map_md_files =
ocaml/ocaml.org#25=
15  by @cuihtlauac
PR: Remove unused Video data ocaml/ocaml.org#2506 by @cuihtlauac
PR: Remove unused ood/video files ocaml/ocaml.org#2546  by @cuihtlauac











ocaml-libbpf: Libbpf C-bindings for OCaml


Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-ocaml-libbpf-lib=
bpf-c-bindings-for-ocaml/14905/1




Lee Koon Wen announced


I'm excited to announce the first release of ocaml-libbpf, a new library pr=
oviding OCaml bindings for libbpf, the essential C library for working with=
 eBPF programs. This library allows you to load, initialize, link, and mana=
ge eBPF programs within OCaml, simplifying the process of working with thes=
e powerful in-kernel applications.


opam install libbpf



Key Features:


High-level and Low-level APIs: Access both raw bindings and user-friend=
ly high-level functions for eBPF management.
Seamless Integration: Load eBPF ELF files into the kernel with ease.
BPF Map Support: Manage BPF maps for communication between user space a=
nd kernel space.



For more information, visit the ocaml-libbpf repo. Contributions and feedback are welcome!



Enjoy!









How I built the Acutis template language in OCaml


Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/blog-how-i=
-built-the-acutis-template-language-in-ocaml/14916/1




John announced


Acutis is a personal project I've been developing on-and-off over the last =
few years. It's a template language (similar to Mustache, Nunjucks, etc.) t=
hat has a static type system, uses pattern-matching, and can compile templa=
tes into JavaScript files. I'm sharing it now because it's reached a somewh=
at-stable state.



You can view its home page here=
 and its source co=
de here. I also wrote a blog-style article that explains how I created =
Acutis, the problems I faced, and the decisions I made. You can read it her=
e: "The Acutis templat=
e language, or: how I over-engineered a program that just prints text".



I don't especially expect people to use Acutis much, since it's very person=
al and based around my specific use cases. (Also, we have an overabundance =
of template languages already anyway.) Nonetheless, building it was a fun a=
nd rewarding learning experience for me. Perhaps some people will find it a=
s interesting as I did. =F0=9F=99=82









MirageOS podcast


Archive: h=
ttps://discuss.ocaml.org/t/mirageos-podcast/14927/1




Hannes Mehnert announced


I recently was interviewed by Matthias Kirschner from FSFE about MirageOS (=
+ OCaml). The result is a podcast https://fsfe.org/news/podcast/episode-25.en.html



Spread the word, have a listen, and please don't hesitate to give feedback =
- via email or in this thread.









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 loo=
k at the archive or the <=
a href=3D"https://alan.petitepomme.net/cwn/cwn.rss">RSS feed of the archive=
s.



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




Alan Schmitt

OCaml Weekly News

Table of Contents

The Structure of Godotcaml as of Today, by Matt Walker [Fizzix= nerd]

Matt Walker announced

opam 2.2.0 is out!

Kate announced

What=E2=80=99s new?

How to upgrade

OCaml.org Newsletter: June 2024

Sabine Schmaltz announced

Open Issues for Contributors

Recipes for the OCaml Cookbook

Community & Marketing Pages Rework

General Improvements and Data Additions

ocaml-libbpf: Libbpf C-bindings for OCaml

Lee Koon Wen announced

How I built the Acutis template language in OCaml

John announced

MirageOS podcast

Hannes Mehnert announced

Old CWN