package base

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Full standard library replacement for OCaml

Install

Dune Dependency

github.com Readme Changelog MIT License Edit opam file Versions (19)

Authors

  1. J
    Jane Street Group, LLC

Maintainers

  1. J
    Jane Street developers

Sources

v0.14.1.tar.gz
sha256=8926852cded78899337f1e0b8777c0cd7d4e52604f982c7c1611a9290ceb608d
md5=e4419eae60f57e553b154856f0cacf42

Description

Full standard library replacement for OCaml

Base is a complete and portable alternative to the OCaml standard library. It provides all standard functionalities one would expect from a language standard library. It uses consistent conventions across all of its module.

Base aims to be usable in any context. As a result system dependent features such as I/O are not offered by Base. They are instead provided by companion libraries such as stdio:

https://github.com/janestreet/stdio

Published: 14 Jan 2021

README

README.org

* Base

Base is a standard library for OCaml. It provides a standard set of
general purpose modules that are well-tested, performant, and
fully-portable across any environment that can run OCaml code. Unlike
other standard library projects, Base is meant to be used as a
wholesale replacement of the standard library distributed with the
OCaml compiler. In particular it makes different choices and doesn't
re-export features that are not fully portable such as I/O, which are
left to other libraries.

You also might want to browse the [[https://ocaml.janestreet.com/ocaml-core/latest/doc/base/index.html][API Documentation]].

** Installation

Install Base via [[https://opam.ocaml.org][OPAM]]:

#+begin_src
$ opam install base
#+end_src

Base has no runtime dependencies and is fast to build. Its sole build
dependencies are [[https://github.com/ocaml/dune][dune]], which itself requires nothing more than the
compiler, and [[https://github.com/janestreet/sexplib0][sexplib0]].

** Using the OCaml standard library with Base

Base is intended as a full stdlib replacement.  As a result, after an
=open Base=, all the modules, values, types, ... coming from the OCaml
standard library that one normally gets in the default environment are
deprecated.

In order to access these values, one must use the =Caml= library,
which re-exports them all through the toplevel name =Caml=:
=Caml.String=, =Caml.print_string=, ...

The recommended way to build code using Base is as follows:

#+begin_src ocaml
$ ocamlc -open Base
#+end_src

** Differences between Base and the OCaml standard library

Programmers who are used to the OCaml standard library should read
through this section to understand major differences between the two
libraries that one should be aware of when switching to Base.

*** Comparison operators

The comparison operators exposed by the OCaml standard library are
polymorphic:

#+begin_src ocaml
val compare : 'a -> 'a -> int
val ( <= ) : 'a -> 'a -> bool
...
#+end_src

What they implement is structural comparison of the runtime
representation of values. Since these are often error-prone,
i.e. they don't correspond to what the user expects, they are not
exposed directly by Base.

To use polymorphic comparison with Base, one should use the
=Polymorphic_compare= module. The default comparison operators exposed
by Base are the integer ones, just like the default arithmetic
operators are the integer ones.

The recommended way to compare arbitrary complex data structures is to
use the specific =compare= functions. For instance:

#+begin_src ocaml
List.compare String.compare x y
#+end_src

The [[https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_compare][ppx_compare]] rewriter
offers an alternative way to write this:

#+begin_src ocaml
[%compare: string list] x y
#+end_src

** Base and ppx code generators

Base uses a few ppx code generators to implement:

- reliable and customizable comparison of OCaml values
- reliable and customizable hash of OCaml values
- conversions between OCaml values and s-expression

However, it doesn't need these code generators to build. What it does
instead is use ppx as a code verification tool during development. It
works in a very similar fashion to
[[https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_expect][expectation tests]].

Whenever you see this in the code source:

#+begin_src ocaml
type t = ... [@@deriving_inline sexp_of]
let sexp_of_t = ...
[@@@end]
#+end_src

the code between the =[@@deriving_inline]= and the =[@@@end]= is
generated code. The generated code is currently quite big and hard to
read, however we are working on making it look like human-written
code.

You can put the following elisp code in your =~/.emacs= file to hide
these blocks:

#+begin_src scheme
(defun deriving-inline-forward-sexp (&optional arg)
  (search-forward-regexp "\\[@@@end\\]") nil nil arg)

(defun setup-hide-deriving-inline ()
  (inline)
  (hs-minor-mode t)
  (let ((hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all nil))
    (hs-hide-all)))

(require 'hideshow)
(add-to-list 'hs-special-modes-alist
             '(tuareg-mode "\\[@@deriving_inline[^]]*\\]" "\\[@@@end\\]" nil
                           deriving-inline-forward-sexp nil))
(add-hook 'tuareg-mode-hook 'setup-hide-deriving-inline)
#+end_src

Things are not yet setup in the git repository to make it convenient
to change types and update the generated code, but they will be setup
soon.

** Base coding rules

There are a few coding rules across the code base that are enforced by
lint tools.

These rules are:

- Opening the =Caml= module is not allowed. Inside Base, the OCaml
  stdlib is shadowed and accessible through the =Caml= module. We
  forbid opening =Caml= so that we know exactly where things come
  from.
- =Caml.Foo= modules cannot be aliased, one must use =Caml.Foo=
  explicitly. This is to avoid having to remember a list of aliases
  at the beginning of each file.
- For some modules that are both in the OCaml stdlib and Base, such as
  =String=, we define a module =String0= for common functions that
  cannot be defined directly in =Base.String= to avoid creating a
  circular dependency.  Except for =String= itself, other modules
  are not allowed to use =Caml.String= and must use either =String= or
  =String0= instead.
- Indentation is exactly the one of =ocp-indent=.
- A few other coding style rules enforced by
  [[https://github.com/janestreet/ppx_js_style][ppx_js_style]].

The Base specific coding rules are checked by =ppx_base_lint=, in the
=lint= subfolder. The indentation rules are checked by a wrapper around
=ocp-indent= and the coding style rules are checked by =ppx_js_style=.

These checks are currently not run by =dune=, but it will soon get a
=-dev= flag to run them automatically.

** Roadmap

Following is the current plan for a stable version 1 of Base.

*** Add more integer types

Add support for ={,u}int{8,16,32,64}=. These are always useful when
implementing binary protocols.

Initially they should be implemented with C stubs and eventually we
should propose their inclusion in the compiler.

*** 80 columns limit

Currently lines in Base are limited to a maximum width of 90
characters. To make things more standard, we should use an 80 columns
limit.  The only thing needed for this is to extend the style checker
to enforce a maximum line width.

*** Improve the generated code

Improve our code generators to produce code that looks more like
hand-written code.

Dependencies (4)

  1. dune-configurator
  2. dune >= "2.0.0"
  3. sexplib0 >= "v0.14" & < "v0.15"
  4. ocaml >= "4.08.0" & < "4.14"

Dev Dependencies

None

  1. accessor = "v0.14.1"
  2. accessor_base = "v0.14.1"
  3. ahrocksdb < "0.2.1"
  4. alcotest-async
  5. arrayjit < "0.4.1"
  6. async_ssl = "v0.14.0"
  7. aws-s3 >= "4.4.0" & < "4.8.1"
  8. azblob
  9. bap-main
  10. bap-recipe
  11. bap-recipe-command
  12. bap-relation
  13. base_bigstring = "v0.14.0"
  14. base_quickcheck >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  15. bin_prot >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  16. bio_io >= "0.2.1" & < "0.5.1"
  17. bitvec-order
  18. caisar < "0.2"
  19. caisar-ir
  20. caisar-nnet
  21. caisar-onnx
  22. caisar-ovo
  23. caisar-xgboost
  24. camelsnakekebab
  25. camlimages >= "5.0.3"
  26. capnp >= "3.3.0"
  27. catt
  28. cohttp-async >= "2.5.2-1" & != "5.3.0" & < "6.0.0~beta2"
  29. combinat < "3.0"
  30. cookie >= "0.1.8"
  31. core_kernel >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  32. crlibm < "0.3"
  33. dotenv
  34. echo
  35. expect_test_helpers_core < "v0.15.0"
  36. FPauth
  37. FPauth-core
  38. FPauth-responses
  39. FPauth-strategies
  40. farith
  41. feather >= "0.2.0"
  42. feather_async
  43. fftw3 < "0.8.2"
  44. fieldslib = "v0.14.0"
  45. flow_parser < "0.246.0"
  46. fontforge-of-ocaml
  47. freetds = "0.6"
  48. GT >= "0.4.0" & < "0.5.2"
  49. gammu >= "0.9.4"
  50. genspio >= "0.0.3"
  51. gobject-introspection
  52. gsl >= "1.22.0" & < "1.24.3"
  53. h1_parser
  54. hacl
  55. hardcaml >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  56. hardcaml_waveterm = "v0.14.0"
  57. higher_kinded = "v0.14.1"
  58. idd
  59. idds
  60. influxdb
  61. influxdb-async
  62. influxdb-lwt
  63. inquire < "0.2.0"
  64. json-derivers
  65. jst-config >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  66. lacaml >= "10.0.1" & < "11.0.7"
  67. lbfgs < "0.9.1"
  68. learn-ocaml
  69. learn-ocaml-client
  70. libsvm >= "0.9.4"
  71. lilac
  72. liquid_interpreter >= "0.1.2"
  73. liquid_ml >= "0.1.2"
  74. liquid_parser >= "0.1.2"
  75. liquid_std >= "0.1.2"
  76. liquid_syntax >= "0.1.2"
  77. logical
  78. matplotlib
  79. merge-fmt
  80. mesh-triangle >= "0.9.3" & < "0.9.5"
  81. mmdb >= "0.3.0"
  82. monorobot
  83. neural_nets_lib < "0.4.1"
  84. non_empty_list
  85. nsq
  86. nuscr
  87. OCanren-ppx
  88. obeam >= "0.1.0"
  89. ocaml-lsp-server = "1.18.0"
  90. ocaml-r
  91. ocamlformat >= "0.14.3" & < "0.25.1"
  92. ocamlformat-lib
  93. ocamlformat-mlx-lib
  94. ocamlformat-rpc < "0.21.0"
  95. ocamlmig
  96. opine
  97. owl
  98. parsexp >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  99. parsexp_io = "v0.14.0"
  100. patience_diff = "v0.14.0"
  101. pcre >= "7.3.0" & < "7.4.6"
  102. posixat = "v0.14.0"
  103. postgresql >= "4.1.0" & < "4.6.2"
  104. ppx-owl-opt
  105. ppx_accessor >= "v0.14.1" & < "v0.15.0"
  106. ppx_assert = "v0.14.0"
  107. ppx_bin_prot = "v0.14.0"
  108. ppx_cold = "v0.14.0"
  109. ppx_compare = "v0.14.0"
  110. ppx_conv_func = "v0.14.0"
  111. ppx_csv_conv = "v0.14.0"
  112. ppx_custom_printf >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  113. ppx_deriving_cad
  114. ppx_deriving_hardcaml = "v0.14.0"
  115. ppx_deriving_scad
  116. ppx_enumerate = "v0.14.0"
  117. ppx_expect >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  118. ppx_fail >= "v0.14.0"
  119. ppx_fields_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  120. ppx_fixed_literal < "v0.15.0"
  121. ppx_hash = "v0.14.0"
  122. ppx_here = "v0.14.0"
  123. ppx_inline_test >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  124. ppx_js_style >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  125. ppx_let = "v0.14.0"
  126. ppx_module_timer = "v0.14.0"
  127. ppx_open
  128. ppx_optcomp >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  129. ppx_optional = "v0.14.0"
  130. ppx_partial
  131. ppx_pattern_bind = "v0.14.0"
  132. ppx_protocol_conv >= "5.1.2"
  133. ppx_python = "v0.14.0"
  134. ppx_rapper >= "1.0.1"
  135. ppx_sexp_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  136. ppx_sexp_message >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  137. ppx_sexp_value = "v0.14.0"
  138. ppx_stable >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  139. ppx_string < "v0.15.0"
  140. ppx_typerep_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  141. ppx_variants_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  142. ppx_xml_conv = "v0.14.0"
  143. ppx_yojson_conv = "v0.14.0"
  144. ppxlib < "0.31.0"
  145. protocell
  146. psyche
  147. pyml_bindgen
  148. pyre-ast
  149. pythonlib = "v0.14.0"
  150. qinap
  151. range >= "0.6"
  152. record_builder = "v0.14.0"
  153. reparse = "2.1.0"
  154. routes >= "2.0.0"
  155. safemoney >= "0.2.0"
  156. sanddb
  157. secp256k1 >= "0.2.5"
  158. session-cookie
  159. session-cookie-lwt
  160. sexp_pretty = "v0.14.0"
  161. sexp_select = "v0.14.0"
  162. shexp = "v0.14.0"
  163. sihl < "0.1.5"
  164. speed
  165. spin < "0.8.0"
  166. splittable_random = "v0.14.0"
  167. sqlite3 >= "4.2.0" & < "5.0.1"
  168. stdio = "v0.14.0"
  169. string_dict = "v0.14.0"
  170. swipl
  171. syguslib-utils
  172. tablecloth-base < "0.0.10"
  173. tablecloth-native < "transition"
  174. tensorboard
  175. tensorflow
  176. time_now = "v0.14.0"
  177. timmy
  178. timmy-unix >= "1.1.5"
  179. topological_sort = "v0.14.0"
  180. torch < "v0.16.0"
  181. tqdm
  182. travesty >= "0.6.0" & < "0.7.2"
  183. twostep
  184. typed_list
  185. typerep = "v0.14.0"
  186. user-agent-parser
  187. variantslib = "v0.14.0"
  188. vcaml = "v0.14.0"
  189. virtual_dom = "v0.14.0"
  190. wasmtime
  191. wseg
  192. zanuda
  193. zmq-async
  194. zmq-eio
  195. zmq-lwt < "5.1.0"

Conflicts

None

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