Zig looks like it could (eventually?) provide a safer and easier way of writing OCaml C stubs. It can call C libraries without any ceremony and has a growing stdlib. Has anyone experimented with this already?
Regarding Rust, I’m curious to know what parts of the ecosystem, if there are any, you miss when you’re working with OCaml. If we put the following aside:
- Core language and syntax pros/cons. Traits, metaprogramming, etc.
- Advantages such as additional safety, parallelism, performance
- Simply enjoying learning and writing Rust
And focus on libraries and tooling Rust might’ve gotten an edge over OCaml because of the increase in interest and community size instead of technical differences, what are some specific projects you’d like to see in OCaml (or any OCaml libraries that need catching up to do)?
I mainly work on web and native applications targeting end-users, and in this context, I can’t help but feel like OCaml ecosystem is full of gems that have a clear edge over equivalent libraries and tools I’ve used in other languages. Plus, the language itself hits the sweetest spot I’ve experienced so far.
I’m not bothered by the hype around Rust at all, I think it’s adoption is good for the software industry in general. I’m mainly interested in finding out what cool stuff I could be missing out on and practicing my OCaml implementing them. Beating the averages and all.