That's a good idea, actually, because the barrier to entry is 0. I could even run my own server. Wasn't there a javascript implementation of the ocaml toplevel? It should be possible to upload/download files, though.
On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 8:22 PM, Jon Harrop <j...@ffconsultancy.com> wrote: > Wouldn't it be preferable for students to use OCaml in a browser? I'm just > teaching a bunch of people F# and I've recommended tryfsharp.org to them for > that reason. Perhaps it would be better to build something comparable in the > OCaml world, rather than starting down the arduous route of an > easy-to-install optimizing native code compiler? > > Cheers, > Jon. > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Andrej Bauer [mailto:andrej.ba...@andrej.com] >> Sent: 15 December 2011 07:30 >> To: caml-list@inria.fr >> Subject: [Caml-list] Don't forget the user >> >> Recent discussions on how to improve the Ocaml-on-windows situation are very >> welcome, but I see a lot of tech-speak and little feeling for the users, who >> care >> just about one thing: to have a click & install distribution of Ocaml that >> actually >> works. >> >> Keep this in mind: 90% of potential Ocaml users are on Windows, and they >> never >> heard of Mingw or Cygwin, and they never used a command prompt. >> >> It doesn't matter if the distribution is incomplete. It doesn't matter what >> is under >> the hood. It doesn't matter what "the expert" thinks about it, much less so >> what >> Linux people think about it (I am typing this on a Linux box). Someone just >> needs >> to do it, and Jonathan Protzenko seems an obvious candidate. Jonathan, if you >> have the time to modify your distribution so that it become self-contained, >> i.e., >> it contains mingw + ocaml (does _not_ separately install mingw, it just >> sticks it >> under ocaml and then ocaml uses that, independently of whether there already >> is a mingw on the system), I am sure that will be received very positively >> by many >> people, even though "the experts" >> will spit on it, and will point out that this is not The Right Way, etc. >> Just do it. >> >> Once we have such a thing, it can be optimized to our hearts content: >> strip down mingw, check if mingw is already there, add support for flexdll, >> etc. >> >> The said fact is that I would _love_ to teach Ocaml to my students, but I >> can't >> because installing Ocaml is too hard. Just give me _anything_ that actually >> works. Otherwise I will keep teaching "functional programming" with >> Mathematica... >> >> That's my opinion. >> >> With kind regards, >> >> Andrej >> >> -- >> Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management and archives: >> https://sympa-roc.inria.fr/wws/info/caml-list >> Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners >> Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs > -- Caml-list mailing list. Subscription management and archives: https://sympa-roc.inria.fr/wws/info/caml-list Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs
