Re: When functional languages can be accepted by industry?

From: Markus Mottl (mottl@miss.wu-wien.ac.at)
Date: Thu Apr 20 2000 - 20:52:34 MET DST

  • Next message: Jacques Garrigue: "Re: When functional languages can be accepted by industry?"

    > In another life I wrote lots of numerical linear algebra programs, and I
    > find that a little overloading would make the code a lot nicer.

    I admit: I don't write this much numerical code so I don't have many
    opportunities to complain about missing operator overloading there...

    > Funny that you should say that, I've been spending a bit more of my spare
    > time hacking Haskell for the same reasons you describe below. I translated
    > almost all of the monads in Wadler's "Essence of FP" paper to OCaml but
    > ended up using regular prefix syntax. Yes, if you use different monads
    > simultaneously you have to use qualified names. Bummer.

    It is of course possible to use "regular" (?) prefix syntax, but there are
    other problems, too: e.g. if you want to "move" from a state transformer to
    a state reader, you might be forced to update some module names, whereas
    resolution of operator overloading might change meaning (= the "right"
    monad to use) automatically as required.

    > The main problems here are
    >
    > (1) The enormous number of existing libraries (and tools for managing them)
    > for these other languages
    >
    > (2) The extensive documentation they have

    Well, there is not much one can do against this unless you can pay a very
    big development team that just focuses on these things...

    On the other hand, a "slowly" growing library is more likely to be
    well-designed.

    > (3) The OCaml error messaging, which makes worse the problem most people
    > already have with the unfamiliar type system

    Except in the cases when OCaml prints out some kilometers of conflicting
    module signatures, I am quite content with the error messages.

    > Fortunately for me, my employer really likes OCaml :-)

    Lucky you! ;-)

    Best regards,
    Markus Mottl

    -- 
    Markus Mottl, mottl@miss.wu-wien.ac.at, http://miss.wu-wien.ac.at/~mottl
    



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