OCaml vs Scala

Overview

Scala

Stacks11.9K

Followers7.8K

Votes1.5K

GitHub Stars14.4K

Forks3.1K

OCaml

Stacks321

Followers186

Votes28

OCaml vs Scala: What are the differences?

Introduction: When comparing OCaml and Scala, it is important to understand the key differences between these two programming languages. Both OCaml and Scala are powerful languages that have distinct features and advantages for different use cases.

1. Type System: OCaml uses a powerful type inference system, which allows for static type checking and type safety without requiring explicit type annotations. On the other hand, Scala incorporates a more advanced type system that includes features like type classes and higher-kinded types, providing more flexibility and expressiveness in type declarations.

2. Object-Oriented Programming: Scala is designed to be a hybrid functional and object-oriented programming language, allowing developers to seamlessly blend functional and object-oriented paradigms. OCaml, on the other hand, is primarily a functional programming language with limited support for object-oriented features, making Scala a better choice for projects that require strong object-oriented design.

3. Concurrency: Scala offers built-in support for concurrent and parallel programming through its Akka actor system, making it easier to write scalable and fault-tolerant concurrent applications. While OCaml also has libraries for concurrent programming, it may require more manual intervention compared to Scala's integrated concurrency features.

4. Interoperability: Scala is designed to run on the JVM, providing seamless interoperability with Java libraries and frameworks. This allows Scala developers to leverage the vast ecosystem of Java tools while still taking advantage of Scala's language features. In contrast, OCaml has fewer interoperability options and may require more effort to integrate with existing codebases and libraries.

5. Tooling and Ecosystem: Scala has a robust ecosystem with tools like sbt for building, ScalaTest for testing, and frameworks like Play and Akka for web and concurrent programming. OCaml, while also supported by a range of tools and libraries, may have a more limited ecosystem compared to Scala, especially for web development and other application domains.

6. Community and Adoption: Scala has gained significant popularity in industry, with companies like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Airbnb using Scala for their production systems. This widespread adoption has led to a larger community of developers and resources available for Scala, making it easier to find support and resources for Scala projects compared to OCaml.

In Summary, OCaml and Scala differ in their type systems, approach to object-oriented programming, support for concurrency, interoperability, tooling and ecosystem, and community adoption. These differences make each language suitable for different use cases and development needs.

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Advice on Scala, OCaml

Jakub

Jan 2, 2020

Decided

We needed to incorporate Big Data Framework for data stream analysis, specifically Apache Spark / Apache Storm. The three options of languages were most suitable for the job - Python, Java, Scala.

The winner was Python for the top of the class, high-performance data analysis libraries (NumPy, Pandas) written in C, quick learning curve, quick prototyping allowance, and a great connection with other future tools for machine learning as Tensorflow.

The whole code was shorter & more readable which made it easier to develop and maintain.

290k views290k

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zen

Sep 26, 2019

Needs advice

Finding the best server-side tool for building a personal information organizer that focuses on performance, simplicity, and scalability.

performance and scalability get a prototype going fast by keeping codebase simple find hosting that is affordable and scales well (Java/Scala-based ones might not be affordable)

306k views306k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Scala	OCaml
Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.	It is an industrial strength programming language supporting functional, imperative and object-oriented styles. It is the technology of choice in companies where a single mistake can cost millions and speed matters,
-	functional style; imperative style; object-oriented style
Statistics
GitHub Stars 14.4K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 3.1K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 11.9K	Stacks 321
Followers 7.8K	Followers 186
Votes 1.5K	Votes 28
Pros & Cons
Pros 188 Static typing 178 Pattern-matching 175 Jvm 172 Scala is fun 138 Types Cons 11 Slow compilation time 7 Multiple ropes and styles to hang your self 6 Too few developers available 4 Complicated subtyping 2 My coworkers using scala are racist against other stuff	Pros 7 Satisfying to write 6 Pattern matching 4 Very practical 4 Also has OOP 3 Extremely powerful type inference Cons 3 Small community 1 Royal pain in the neck to compile large programs
Integrations
Java	Linux Windows FreeBSD macOS

What are some alternatives to Scala, OCaml?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Swift

Writing code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast. Swift is ready for your next iOS and OS X project — or for addition into your current app — because Swift code works side-by-side with Objective-C.

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OCaml vs Scala: What are the differences?

OCaml vs Scala

Overview