Introduction
Why OCaml?
OCaml is a statically typed functional programming language with a powerful type system, automatic memory management, and native code compilation. It is the language behind tools like the Coq proof assistant, MirageOS, and the original implementation of Rust's compiler.
- Strong type inference — OCaml infers types so you rarely need annotations, yet the compiler catches errors at compile time.
- Pattern matching — exhaustive pattern matching makes it easy to handle every case in your data.
- Algebraic data types — variants and records let you model complex domains precisely.
- Functional core, imperative when needed — OCaml is functional-first but supports mutable state and imperative loops.
- Fast native compilation — OCaml compiles to efficient native code, with performance competitive with C.
What You Will Learn
- Printing output with
print_endline,print_int, andprint_newline - Immutable bindings with
let - Basic types:
int,float,string,bool - Arithmetic and type conversions
- Defining and calling functions
- Recursion with
let rec - Higher-order functions and
funlambdas - Lists with
[...],::, and theListmodule - Tuples and
fst/snd - Pattern matching with
match ... with - The
optiontype (Some/None) - Modules and the pipe operator
|>
Resources
- OCaml Official Site — the official language site with tutorials and documentation.
- Real World OCaml — a comprehensive, freely available book.
- OCaml Manual — the standard library API reference.
- Exercism OCaml Track — practice problems with mentoring.