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 (18)

Authors

  1. J
    Jane Street Group, LLC

Maintainers

  1. J
    Jane Street developers

Sources

v0.14.3.tar.gz
sha256=e34dc0dd052a386c84f5f67e71a90720dff76e0edd01f431604404bee86ebe5a

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: 25 Jan 2022

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"

Dev Dependencies

None

  1. accessor = "v0.14.1"
  2. accessor_base = "v0.14.1"
  3. ahrocksdb < "0.2.1"
  4. alcotest-async >= "1.3.0"
  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~alpha2"
  29. colibri2
  30. combinat < "3.0"
  31. cookie >= "0.1.8"
  32. core_kernel >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  33. crlibm < "0.3"
  34. dotenv
  35. echo
  36. expect_test_helpers_core < "v0.15.0"
  37. FPauth
  38. FPauth-core
  39. FPauth-responses
  40. FPauth-strategies
  41. farith
  42. feather >= "0.2.0"
  43. feather_async
  44. fftw3 < "0.8.2"
  45. fieldslib = "v0.14.0"
  46. flow_parser < "0.246.0"
  47. fontforge-of-ocaml
  48. freetds = "0.6"
  49. GT >= "0.4.0" & < "0.5.2"
  50. gammu >= "0.9.4"
  51. genspio >= "0.0.3"
  52. gobject-introspection
  53. gsl >= "1.22.0" & < "1.24.3"
  54. h1_parser
  55. hacl
  56. hardcaml >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  57. hardcaml_waveterm = "v0.14.0"
  58. higher_kinded = "v0.14.1"
  59. idd
  60. idds
  61. influxdb
  62. influxdb-async
  63. influxdb-lwt
  64. inquire < "0.2.0"
  65. json-derivers
  66. jst-config >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  67. lacaml >= "10.0.1" & < "11.0.7"
  68. lbfgs < "0.9.1"
  69. learn-ocaml
  70. learn-ocaml-client
  71. libsvm >= "0.9.4"
  72. lilac
  73. liquid_interpreter >= "0.1.2"
  74. liquid_ml >= "0.1.2"
  75. liquid_parser >= "0.1.2"
  76. liquid_std >= "0.1.2"
  77. liquid_syntax >= "0.1.2"
  78. logical
  79. matplotlib
  80. merge-fmt
  81. mesh-triangle >= "0.9.3" & < "0.9.5"
  82. mmdb >= "0.3.0"
  83. monorobot
  84. neural_nets_lib < "0.4.1"
  85. non_empty_list
  86. nsq
  87. nuscr
  88. OCanren-ppx
  89. obeam >= "0.1.0"
  90. ocaml-lsp-server >= "1.18.0~5.2preview" & < "1.19.0"
  91. ocaml-r
  92. ocamlformat >= "0.14.3" & < "0.25.1"
  93. ocamlformat-lib
  94. ocamlformat-mlx-lib
  95. ocamlformat-rpc < "0.21.0"
  96. ocamlmig
  97. opine
  98. owl
  99. pa_ppx = "0.03"
  100. parsexp >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  101. parsexp_io = "v0.14.0"
  102. patience_diff = "v0.14.0"
  103. pcre >= "7.3.0" & < "7.4.6"
  104. posixat = "v0.14.0"
  105. postgresql >= "4.1.0" & < "4.6.2"
  106. ppx-owl-opt
  107. ppx_accessor >= "v0.14.1" & < "v0.15.0"
  108. ppx_assert = "v0.14.0"
  109. ppx_bin_prot = "v0.14.0"
  110. ppx_cold = "v0.14.0"
  111. ppx_compare = "v0.14.0"
  112. ppx_conv_func = "v0.14.0"
  113. ppx_csv_conv = "v0.14.0"
  114. ppx_custom_printf >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  115. ppx_deriving_cad
  116. ppx_deriving_hardcaml = "v0.14.0"
  117. ppx_deriving_rpc = "7.2.0"
  118. ppx_deriving_scad
  119. ppx_enumerate = "v0.14.0"
  120. ppx_expect >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  121. ppx_fail >= "v0.14.0"
  122. ppx_fields_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  123. ppx_fixed_literal < "v0.15.0"
  124. ppx_hash = "v0.14.0"
  125. ppx_here = "v0.14.0"
  126. ppx_inline_test >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  127. ppx_js_style >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  128. ppx_let = "v0.14.0"
  129. ppx_module_timer = "v0.14.0"
  130. ppx_open
  131. ppx_optcomp >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  132. ppx_optional = "v0.14.0"
  133. ppx_partial
  134. ppx_pattern_bind = "v0.14.0"
  135. ppx_protocol_conv >= "5.1.2"
  136. ppx_python = "v0.14.0"
  137. ppx_rapper >= "1.0.1"
  138. ppx_sexp_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  139. ppx_sexp_message >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  140. ppx_sexp_value = "v0.14.0"
  141. ppx_stable >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  142. ppx_string < "v0.15.0"
  143. ppx_typerep_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  144. ppx_variants_conv >= "v0.14.0" & < "v0.15.0"
  145. ppx_xml_conv = "v0.14.0"
  146. ppx_yojson_conv = "v0.14.0"
  147. ppxlib < "0.30.0"
  148. protocell
  149. psyche
  150. pyml_bindgen
  151. pyre-ast
  152. pythonlib = "v0.14.0"
  153. qinap
  154. range >= "0.6"
  155. record_builder = "v0.14.0"
  156. reparse = "2.1.0"
  157. routes >= "2.0.0"
  158. safemoney >= "0.2.0"
  159. sanddb
  160. secp256k1 >= "0.2.5"
  161. session-cookie
  162. session-cookie-lwt
  163. sexp_pretty = "v0.14.0"
  164. sexp_select = "v0.14.0"
  165. shexp = "v0.14.0"
  166. sihl < "0.1.5"
  167. speed
  168. spin < "0.8.0"
  169. splittable_random = "v0.14.0"
  170. sqlite3 >= "4.2.0" & < "5.0.1"
  171. stdio = "v0.14.0"
  172. string_dict = "v0.14.0"
  173. swipl
  174. syguslib-utils
  175. tablecloth-base < "0.0.10"
  176. tablecloth-native < "transition"
  177. tensorboard
  178. tensorflow
  179. time_now = "v0.14.0"
  180. timmy
  181. timmy-unix >= "1.1.5"
  182. topological_sort = "v0.14.0"
  183. torch < "v0.16.0"
  184. tqdm
  185. travesty >= "0.6.0" & < "0.7.2"
  186. twostep
  187. typerep = "v0.14.0"
  188. user-agent-parser
  189. variantslib = "v0.14.0"
  190. vcaml = "v0.14.0"
  191. virtual_dom = "v0.14.0"
  192. wasmtime
  193. wseg
  194. zanuda
  195. zmq-async
  196. zmq-eio
  197. zmq-lwt < "5.1.0"

Conflicts

None

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