What does cons do in OCaml?

A Cons of an element x and a list l represents the list whose head is x and whose tail is l . For example, the list Nil represents the empty list [] , the list Cons(1, Nil) represents the list [1] , and the list Cons(1, Cons(2, Cons(3, Nil))) represents the list [1; 2; 3] .

Does OCaml have side effects?

ML-derived languages like OCaml are “mostly pure”. They allow side-effects through things like references and arrays, but by and large most of the code you’ll write will be pure functional because they encourage this thinking.

Is OCaml a good language?

The main advantages of OCaml are its functional nature, readability (it reads almost as nicely as a dynamic language like Python), reliability, but mostly speed. OCaml is much, much faster than most people believe – it’s C fast (actually slightly slower than C, but many, many times quicker than dynamic languages).

What is OCaml good for?

Object-oriented programming: OCaml allows for writing programs in an object-oriented style. In keeping with the language’s philosophy, the object-oriented layer obeys the “strong typing” paradigm, which makes it impossible to send a message to an object that cannot answer it.

Does not Equal OCaml?

OCaml provides the following equality and comparison operators: = (equal), <> (not equal), and the obvious < , > , <= , >= . Unlike arithmetic operators, they do work with values of any type, but those values must be of the same type.

WHAT IS A in OCaml?

The type ‘a is a type variable, and stands for any given type. The reason why sort can apply to lists of any type is that the comparisons (=, <=, etc.) are polymorphic in OCaml: they operate between any two values of the same type. This makes sort itself polymorphic over all list types.

What is currying in OCaml?

In OCaml a function can return another function. as a result; this is what currying is doing. • Consider the following example. • When the anonymous function is called, n isn’t even. on the stack any more!

Is OCaml faster than Python?

From the chart, the reader should note that even OCaml byte code runs 5, 10, and 33 times faster than the compiled Scheme code, Python, and interpreted Scheme code, respectively. Compiling the OCaml code gets an additional factor of 4 speed up.

How hard is OCaml?

We have observed that OCaml is really hard for beginners to learn without help. The main cause is the terribly poor reporting of static and dynamic errors.

Is OCaml hard to learn?

Problems. We have observed that OCaml is really hard for beginners to learn without help. The main cause is the terribly poor reporting of static and dynamic errors.