OCaml Weekly News

Hello

Here is the latest OCaml Weekly News, for the week of April 30 to May 07, 2= 024.

Deploying Ocsigen applications

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/deploying-ocsigen-applications/145= 72/1

Hans Ole Rafaelsen announced

I have written a short text on how Ocsigen applications might be packed in = order to be deployed to other nodes, that don't have your development environment installed.

Deploying Ocsigen<= /a>

If you happen to have a better way, or solutions to parts that I have not b= een able to solve, please let me know.

OCaml linting tools and techniques

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/blog-ocaml-linting-tools-= and-techniques/14574/1

Simmo Saan announced

Recently, I started wondering about linting tools for OCaml, so I went look= ing. This ended up being a quite extensive survey. Therefore, I decided to publish my findings in a blog post: OCaml linting tools and techniques.

In particular, I focused on linting with dune and Ppxlib because there's ma= ny variations out there. In the post I describe the technical choices that go into such linters and provide an overview of thos= e that work and how well. In the process of experimenting, I tried them out myself and published them as demos on GitHub: sim642/dune-lint-demo.

Feel free to let me know if I missed any tools out there or you have any qu= estions/comments. There isn't much information about this out there (and existing tool does it slightly differently), so I hope this = overview benefits others as well.

dune 3.15

Archive: http= s://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-dune-3-15/14438/2

Etienne Millon announced

We've released 3.15.1 and 3.15.2. The latter is particularly important for = Coq users since it fixes a regression in incremental compilation introduced in 3.13.0.

Here's the combined changelog:

Fixed

Fix overflow in sendfile stubs (copy of large files could fail or end w= ith truncated files) (#10333, @tonyfettes)
Fix crash when a rule with a directory target is disabled with `enabled= _if` (#10382, fixes #10310, @gridbugs)
melange: remove all restrictions around virtual libraries in Melange. T= hey may be used as otherwise in libraries and executables. (#10412, @anmont= eiro)
spawn: fix compatibility with RHEL7 (#10428, @emillon)
If no directory targets are defined, then do not evaluate `enabled_if` = (#10442, @rgrinberg)
Fix a bug where Coq projects were being rebuilt from scratch each time = the dependency graph changed. (#10446, fixes #10149, @alizter)

bitgenerators v0.1.0

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-bitgenerators-v0-1-0/14577/1

zoj613 announced

Hi everyone. I'd like to announce the first release of bitgenerators. This library implements = an OCaml port of NumPy's bitgenerator interface for working with Psuedo-ran= dom numbers (see: https://numpy.org/doc/stable/reference/random/bi= t_generators/index.html).=20

This library implements several PRNGs that are exposed through this com= mon interface. It also implements an SeedSequence module for s= eeding PRNGs using high quality initial states based on the ideas discussed= here.
Morever, the module provides functions that help easily generate indepe= ndent and non-overlapping instances of a PRNG for use in parallel computati= on in a reproducible manner.
Implemented PRNG's include PCG64, SFC64, Philox4x64, Xoshiro256** and ChaCha. A= ll of which pass stringent statistical randomness tests like PractRand and = Testu01.
The API documentation can be found here
The source code is hosted on github: https://github.com/zoj613/bitgenerators
The README file contains examples of how the library can be used.

This is my first Ocaml project and therefore I would highly appreciate feed= back from experienced users regarding it's usefulness and possibly how it c= ould be improved (e.g. usability and performance). I tried to keep the impl= ementation as functional as possible, though not very sure if that's the be= st approach here.

checked_oint v0.1.0

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-checked-oint-v0-1-0/14580/1

Sima Kinsart announced

I'd like to announce a new library: checked_oint. It implements checked arithmet= ic for both signed and unsigned integers of 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 bits. Un= like stdint or ocaml-integers, routines in this l= ibrary either return an option or raise an exception when a result of an ar= ithmetic operation cannot be represented in a desired integer type. In addi= tion, it contains abstractions for manipulating arbitrary integers and inte= ger types in a generic and type-safe manner, which I find quite useful for = compiler/interpreter implementations.

Usage example:

open Checked_oint

let () =3D
  let x =3D U8.of_int_exn 50 in
  let y =3D U8.of_int_exn 70 in
  assert (U8.equal (U=
8.add_exn x y) (U8.of_int_exn=
 120));
  assert (Option.is_none (U8.mul x y))

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments.

Liquidsoap 2.2.5 is out!

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ann-liquidsoap-2-2-5-is-out/14582/1

Romain Beauxis announced

Liquidsoap 2.2.5 has out! Full release details are here: https://gi= thub.com/savonet/liquidsoap/releases/tag/v2.2.5

Liquidsoap is a statically typed scripting general-purpose language with de= dicated operators and backend for all thing media, streaming, file generati= on, automation, HTTP backend and more.

This is hopefully the last release of the 2.2.x release= cycle before we kick off the new 2.3.x release cycle. We've g= ot a couple feature to bring there and then it'll be ready for more testing.

Liquidsoap 2.2.5 has some good bugfixes and some minor changes= but its most exciting feature is the autocue . It was developed in = close collaboration with several users. The feature is an opt-in crossfade = extension that computes the perfect crossfade transitions for your t= racks.

Over the years, it's been very interesting to maintain an application and l= anguage that is now pretty large and complex using the OCaml compiler and e= cosystem. It's amazing to see how easy it is now to build integrate new pac= kages. It also brings in some interesting, real-life challenges such as som= e very specific mem= ory issues.

Next, we would like to work on optimizing the language by introducing modul= es, to reduce the standard library's memory footprint, and to use the new O= Caml parallelism to fully leverage CPU and memory usage when streaming larg= e amount of data such as video streams.

OCaml 5.2.0 - First Release Candidate

Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/ocaml-5-2-0-first-release-can= didate/14584/1

octachron announced

The release of OCaml 5.2.0 is imminent. As a final step, we are publishing a release candidate to check that everyt= hing is in order before the release in the upcoming week(s).

If you find any bugs, please report them on OCaml's issue tracker.

Compared to the second beta, this release contains one small compiler-libs = printer fix and one configuration tweak.

The full change log for OCaml 5.2.0 is available on GitHub.=20 A short summary of the changes since the second beta release is also availa= ble below.

Installation Instructions

The base compiler can be installed as an opam switch with the following com= mands on opam 2.1 and later:

opam update
opam switch create 5.2.0~rc1

The source code for the release candidate is also directly available on:

Fine-Tuned Compiler Configuration

If you want to tweak the configuration of the compiler, you can switch to t= he option variant with:

opam update
opam switch create <switch_name> ocaml-variants.5.2.0~rc1+options <=
;option_list>

where <option_list> is a space-separated list of o= caml-option-* packages. For instance, for a flambda and= no-flat-float-array switch:

opam switch create 5.2.0~rc1+flambda+nffa ocam=
l-variants.5.2.0~rc1+options ocaml-option-flambda ocaml-option-no-flat-floa=
t-array

All available options can be listed with opam search ocaml-option.




Changes since the second beta


#13130: Min=
or fixes to pprintast for raw identifiers and local module ope=
n syntax for types. (Chet Murthy, review by Gabriel Scherer)
#13100 Fix =
detection of zstd when compiling with musl-gcc (D=
avid Allsopp, review by Samuel Hym)







Announcing DBCaml, Silo, Serde Postgres and a new driver for p=
ostgres


Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org=
/t/announcing-dbcaml-silo-serde-postgres-and-a-new-driver-for-postgres/1458=
5/1




Emil Priver announced


https://priver.d=
ev/blog/dbcaml/dbcaml-project/









Pretty Printing in OCaml: Format Primer


Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/blog-pretty-printing-=
in-ocaml-format-primer/14599/1




Vladimir Keleshev announced


Hi folks, I wrote another monad Format tutorial.



h=
ttps://keleshev.com/pretty-printing-in-ocaml-a-format-primer



Here's some of layouts that are covered:



[[],
 ["one", "two", "three"],
 ["one",
  "two",
  "three",
  "four",
  "five",
  "six",
  "seven",
  "eight",
  "nine",
  "ten"]]




[
  [],
  ["one", "two", "three"],
  [
    "one",
    "two",
    "three",
    "four",
    "five",
    "six",
    "seven",
    "eight",
    "nine",
    "ten",
  ]
]




[ []
, [ "one", "two", "three" ]
, [ "one"
  , "two"
  , "three"
  , "four"
  , "five"
  , "six"
  , "seven"
  , "eight"
  , "nine"
  , "ten"
  ]
]




I tried to share some of my experience using Format. As a bonus=E2=80=94JSO=
N pretty printer.









Send us Talk and Workshop Proposals for Fun OCaml 2024 in Ber=
lin, September 16+17


Archive: https://disc=
uss.ocaml.org/t/send-us-talk-and-workshop-proposals-for-fun-ocaml-2024-in-b=
erlin-september-16-17/14603/1




Sabine Schmaltz announced


Fun OCaml 2024 is a 2 days open source hacking event dedicate=
d to OCaml enthusiasts and professionals. We focus on the impact and potent=
ial of OCaml for solving real-world problems and get together in Berlin for=
 a conference/hackathon over two days:


Day 1 (Monday, September 16): talks (which are live-streamed) and socia=
lizing/hacking.
Day 2 (Tuesday, September 17): Workshops and hacking.



Topics we're interested in:


how you use OCaml in your business / in your projects
OCaml libraries, frameworks, and other Open Source projects built on OC=
aml
hands-on demonstrations that encourage people to try things on the seco=
nd day of the event or at home
seeing actual code and reasoning behind design decisions
experience reports



For more details, check out the website and the CFP linked from there:



https://fun-ocaml.com



Registration for attendees will be announced later this week in advance, bu=
t is not open yet.



Thanks! :sparkles: :orange_heart: :camel:









OCaml Workshop 2024 at ICFP – announcement and call fo=
r proposals


Archive: https://discuss.ocaml.org/t/o=
caml-workshop-2024-at-icfp-announcement-and-call-for-proposals/14371/5




Sonja Heinze continued this thread


As mentioned above, the submission deadline for the OCaml Workshop at ICFP =
is getting closer.



As a new note: A few weeks after the OCaml Workshop at ICFP, there'll be th=
e new initiative Fun OC=
aml in Berlin. It's super exciting to have three OCaml-related workshop=
s (first the ML Workshop and the OCaml Workshop at ICFP, and then Fun OCaml=
) over the course of a few weeks, and we're also very much looking forward =
to Fun OCaml!



We've already mentioned that when reading the submissions, as every year, w=
e'll collaborate closely with the organizers of the ML workshop at ICFP, wh=
ich intersects with the OCaml Workshop on talks with a strong theoretical a=
nd research-oriented focus. We'll also collaborate with the organizers of F=
un OCaml this year, which might intersect on talks with a strong practical =
focus. With collaboration, we mainly mean potentially transferring submissi=
ons from one workshop to another after checking in with the authors (side-n=
ote: if you want your presentation to be taken into account for a potential=
 transfer, you need to respect the earlier of the two submission deadlines).



Best, and looking forward to this exciting year of OCaml workshops,
@Armael and @pitag









Other OCaml News



From the ocaml.org blog


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



We Host Our First OCaml Retreat in India!









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

Deploying Ocsigen applications

Hans Ole Rafaelsen announced

OCaml linting tools and techniques

Simmo Saan announced

dune 3.15

Etienne Millon announced

Fixed

bitgenerators v0.1.0

zoj613 announced

checked_oint v0.1.0

Sima Kinsart announced

Liquidsoap 2.2.5 is out!

Romain Beauxis announced

OCaml 5.2.0 - First Release Candidate

octachron announced

Installation Instructions

Fine-Tuned Compiler Configuration

Changes since the second beta

Announcing DBCaml, Silo, Serde Postgres and a new driver for p= ostgres

Emil Priver announced

Pretty Printing in OCaml: Format Primer

Vladimir Keleshev announced

Send us Talk and Workshop Proposals for Fun OCaml 2024 in Ber= lin, September 16+17

Sabine Schmaltz announced

OCaml Workshop 2024 at ICFP – announcement and call fo= r proposals

Sonja Heinze continued this thread

Other OCaml News

From the ocaml.org blog

Old CWN