[wg-camlp4] [Caml-list] Working Group: the future of syntax extensions in OCaml, after camlp4

[Alain Frisch]

On 01/28/2013 06:18 PM, Virgile Prevosto wrote:
> Well, it's about the only camlp4 "extension" that I'm using. It's
> quite convenient for parsing things that are too complex for regexps
> but do not require a full-blown menhir/ocamlyacc grammar. And like
> Gerd, I'd find it a bit sad if a feature that once belonged to core
> OCaml syntax was to disappear.

A general point here: the goal here is not to kill camlp4 and associated 
extensions, but rather to free the basic OCaml ecosystem from its 
dependency to camlp4 in a reasonable time frame.  For instance, I find 
it quite important that ocamlfind could be compiled/maintained without 
camlp4 (if only to make it usable with MetaOCaml, LexiFi's variant of 
OCaml, or the next cool experimental patch to OCaml, etc), and if it's 
easier to rewrite its parser with ocamlyacc or as a manual recursive 
descent one than to develop a replacement for camlp4's stream parsing 
extension, I believe it is a good idea to go this way.  Of course, Gerd 
has to decide!  Even if someone finally decides to write the stream 
parsing stuff based on -ppx, it make sense to me that ocamlfind has a 
minimal number of external dependencies, so it would not be a waste of 
time anyway.

Is anyone else using stream parsers?

Alain