Subj : Re: any function to handle this kind of counting?
To   : comp.programming
From : Jon Harrop
Date : Sat Jul 30 2005 09:14 pm

Alex Fraser wrote:
>> No, that is not similar to the OCaml I posted because the OCaml programs
>> are self-contained and either use lists (which are native to the
>> language) or data structures found in the OCaml stdlib.
> 
> Why does that make a difference?

Having common definitions in a standard library is beneficial for many
reasons, primarily:

1. Stability (many relevant bits of OCaml's stdlib have been formally proven
correct using theorem provers and will have been used by many more people
than a "home grown" C implementation).

2. Generality (what happens if you want to combine two difference C programs
which use two different "home grown" set implementations?).

3. Efficiency (a "home grown" set implementation in C is unlikely to match
the performance of OCaml's set implementation).

4. Capability (OCaml's built-in hash function can traverse any data
structure).

-- 
Dr Jon D Harrop, Flying Frog Consultancy
http://www.ffconsultancy.com

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