Xavier Leroy writes:
 > I would also contend that if your program routinely manipulate
 > 100000-element lists, then you're probably using the wrong data
 > structure anyway.  But that's a different issue.

Good, I was hoping you would say that!  Just because things are
traditionally done in a certain way in FP textbooks doesn't mean it
actually makes sense to do them that way in real life.

People hardly ever use linked lists in C++ or Java, and the reasons
why mostly hold good in ocaml.

However, implementing a polymorphic `vector' (resizable array) in
ocaml requires a small amount of fancy footwork because of the lack of
a universal `null' value ... there might be a case for implementing
this as part of the underlying language.


French-like paraphrase:

Les livres sur PF utilises exclusivement la linked list, mai pour la
plupart des applications cette structure n'est pas la plus efficiente.
Alors on ne l'utilise presque point en C++ ou Java.  Mais ce n'est pas
100% facile á faire une type `vector' en ocaml, parce ce que ocaml
manque un valeur "null".