Guidance choosing web-building framework

Learning
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I’d like to build reactive webpages using 100% OCaml. I first looked at incr_dom, but after learning Lwt is better supported (at least in 2014) and this is generally true for Jane Street’s packages, I’m reconsidering my options. My priority is something with good documentation and support. I want to practice functional programming and enjoy making things rather than scrounging for tutorials, staring at build errors and deciphering documentation that assumes I know more than I do.

ChatGPT recommends Bonsai over incr_dom, which checks out but it also hallucinated that it is featured in Real World OCaml.

The other suggestions for well-documented options are ocsigen and ReScript/ReasonReact.

Less supported but noteworthy is ocaml-tea.

Can I get some human thoughts and opinions on this? I’m fairly new to OCaml and web dev. Most of my recent work has been in Rocq and bash.

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Are you familiar at all with https://elm-lang.org/ ?

It is a simple, functional web programming language that has influenced many of the popular JavaScript frameworks.

I mention it because there is what is basically a reimplementation of it in ocaml. I came across it when I first started exploring ocaml and had no real problems getting it to work. I posted some notes on it

A short review of fmlib_browser (web frontend library)

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Thank you.

Yes, I kept hearing about Elm while exploring this space but I wanted to stick to using OCaml so my experience would readily transfer beyond making web apps. fmlib_browser looks well documented, it’s now at the top of my list.

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Another similar option is ocaml-vdom .

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https://melange.re + ReasonReact · All your ReactJS knowledge, codified.

There’s a book which contains quite a lot of general guidance on that topic Melange for React Developers | Melange for React Devs

And a bunch of templates to get started