OCaml The PL for the discerning hacker.

Hello. I’m Zach, one of Sorin’s students.

ML Anatomy 101 ML Program = One Giant, Complex Expression Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming. B. Kerninghan A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. J. Gall ML Program = ? ? ?

Building ML Programs ML provides tools to control complexity Build complex exprs from simple exprs Build complex types from simple types PREV NOW

Building Types 1.basic (recap) 2.function 3.record 4.variant 5.demo M.C. Escher’s Relativity in LEGO

basic Who cares about types anyway? Every good programmer! (not just old timers) Types provide: 1.Documentation 2.Early bug warning system 3.Performance!

basic Who cares about types anyway? Even programmers without a type system! I think it may just be a property of large systems in dynamic languages, that eventually you end up rewriting your own type system, and you sort of do it badly. -- Twitter

basic ExpressionType Kind of Type 5intbasic “hello”stringbasic (5, “hello”)int * stringtuple [1; 2; 3; 4]int listlist [ (1, 1) ; (2, 2) ; (3, 3) ](int * int) listtuple+list

more on tuples ExpressionType (5, (10, 15))int * (int * int) ((5, 10), 15)(int * int) * int

more on tuples ExpressionType (5, (10, 15))int * (int * int) ((5, 10), 15)(int * int) * int ( [ (1, 2); (3, 4); (5, 6) ], (“hello”, “india”), (5, “int”, (1, 2, 3)) )

more on tuples ExpressionType (5, (10, 15))int * (int * int) ((5, 10), 15)(int * int) * int ( [ (1, 2); (3, 4); (5, 6) ], (“hello”, “india”), (5, “int”, (1, 2, 3)) ) (int * int) list * (string * string) * (int * string * (int * int * int))

basic Don’t know how it works ? Try it in the toplevel !

Building Types 1.basic (recap) 2.function 3.record 4.variant 5.demo M.C. Escher’s Relativity in LEGO

function A -> B Type of a function which: expects parameter of type A produces a value of type B Contract: caller satisfies A callee satisfies B precondition postcondition

function let f x = x + 5 f: int -> int let f x = “hello “ ^ x f: string -> string let f x = “number “ ^ (string_of_int x) f: int -> string let f x y = x * x + y * y f: int -> int -> int

function let f x y = 1 :: x :: y f: int -> int list -> int list let f x y z = [y + z] f: int list -> int -> int -> int list let rec f = f f ERROR

polymorphic functions Some functions work on many types: let id x = x id: ‘a -> ‘a Takes a value of any type, call it ‘a Returns a value of that type ‘a

polymorphic functions let f a b = a f: ‘a -> ‘b -> ‘a let f a b = b f: ‘a -> ‘b -> ‘b let pipe x f = f x f: ‘a -> (‘a -> ‘b) -> ‘b let (|>) = pipe “hello” |> id |> print_string (print_string (id (“hello”))) binary infix operator

polymorphic functions let f g x = g x f: (‘a -> ‘b) -> ‘a -> ‘b let f g h x = g (h x) f: (‘a -> ‘b) -> (‘c -> ‘a) -> ‘c -> ‘b

Building Types 1.basic (recap) 2.function 3.record 4.variant 5.demo M.C. Escher’s Relativity in LEGO

record type RT = { NM1 : T1 ;... ; NMN : TN } Like a tuple, but refer to members by name.

record type person = { name : string ; age : int ; hair : string ; job : string }

making a record value let pres = { name = “Obama” ; age = 49 ; hair = “black” ; job = “president” }

updating a record value let pres = { name = “Obama” ; age = 49 ; hair = “black” ; job = “president” } let pres’ = {pres with hair = “gray” }

updating a record value let year_older p = if p.age > 45 then { p with age = p.age + 1, hair = “gray” } else { p with age = p.age + 1 } year_older: person -> person

Building Types 1.basic (recap) 2.function 3.record 4.variant 5.demo M.C. Escher’s Relativity in LEGO

variant type VT = | C1 of T1 |... | CN of TN C1 to CN are “constructors” Ci like function from Ti to VT value of type VT can only be constructed with one of these

variant type pet = | Dog of string | Cat of string | Fish of string Value of type pet constructed with one of: Dog, Cat, Fish Each takes a string and returns a pet

variant values type pet = | Dog of string | Cat of string | Fish of string let d = Dog “spot” let c = Cat “whiskers” let f = Fish “nemo”

matching variant values let name pet = match pet with | Dog nm -> nm | Cat nm -> nm | Fish nm -> nm let d = Dog “sparky” in name d

matching variant values let says pet = match pet with | Dog _ -> “woof” | Cat _ -> “meow” | Fish _ -> “bubble bubble” let c = Cat “walter” in says c

variant type fuel_level = | Empty | Middle | Full type vehicle = | Car of int * fuel_level | Tank of int * fuel_level | Boat of int * fuel_level

matching variant values let miles v = match v with | Car (m, _) -> m | Tank (m, _) -> m | Boat (m, -) -> m

updating variant values let reduce f = match f with | Empty -> Empty | Middle -> Empty | Full -> Middle let drive v = match v with | Car (m, f) -> Car (m, reduce f) | Tank (m, f) -> Tank (m, reduce f) | Boat (m, f) -> Boat (m, reduce f)

updating variant values let refill v = match v with | Car (m, f) -> Car (m, Full) | Tank (m, f) -> Tank (m, Full) | Boat (m, f) -> Boat (m, Full)

recursive variant type expr = | Val of int | Add of expr * expr | Sub of expr * expr | Mul of expr * expr let e1 = Val 5 let e2 = Add (e1, e1) let e3 = Mul (e2, e1)

recursive variant let rec eval e =

recursive variant let rec eval e = match e with | Val i -> i | Add (l, r) -> (eval l) + (eval r) | Sub (l, r) -> (eval l) - (eval r) | Mul (l, r) -> (eval l) * (eval r)

mutual recursion let rec expr_dot e = match e with | Val i -> string_of_int i | Add (l, r) -> (aux "add" l) ^ (aux "add" r) | Sub (l, r) -> (aux "sub" l) ^ (aux "sub" r) | Mul (l, r) -> (aux "mul" l) ^ (aux "mul" r) and aux p e = match e with | Val i -> p ^ " -> " ^ string_of_int i ^ ";\n" | Add _ -> p ^ " -> add;\n" ^ (expr_dot e) | Sub _ -> p ^ " -> sub;\n" ^ (expr_dot e) | Mul _ -> p ^ " -> mul;\n" ^ (expr_dot e)

Pattern Matching: a PL Masterpiece match is one of ML’s very best features simultaneous test / extract / bind auto checks any missed cases leads to compact, readable code

Building Types 1.basic (recap) 2.function 3.record 4.variant 5.demo M.C. Escher’s Relativity in LEGO

demo Conway’s Game of Life

demo Conway’s Game of Life code at:

demo OCaml in the “real world” at JaneStreet Check out their leader, Yaron Minsky

Building Types 1.basic (recap) 2.function 3.record 4.variant 5.demo M.C. Escher’s Relativity in LEGO