[ocaml-biz] adjectives about OCaml

[Alexander Petrov]

William Neumann wrote:

"Cynical" may be too extreme...
But we need _one_ _unique_ Ocaml characteristic. "high level, safe, fast, pragmatic"
- adjectives that describe many languages.

Let's see how meaning of "cynical" corresponds with Ocaml

>cyn╥i╥cal  adj.
>        1.  Believing or showing the belief that people are motivated chiefly
>by base or selfish concerns;
We (I, at least) want people to choose Ocaml out of selfish concerns.
Not because it is "not Microsoft", not because functional style is
kewl - just because OCaml is natural choice for fullfilling one's
needs (btw, OCaml in _present_ state isn't).

> skeptical of the motives of others: a
>cynical dismissal of the politician's promise to reform the campaign
>finance system.
Free and portable C#/.Net - wow! Bill will give us
everything we need for programming, just because he is a good guy!

>        2.  Selfishly or callously calculating: showed a cynical disregard for
>the safety of his troops in his efforts to advance his reputation.
If I'm a manager, then I want my programmers to use Ocaml not because
they will enjoy it more than C++ or COBOL, but because it will bring ME
better result for less money.

>        3.  Negative or pessimistic, as from world-weariness: a cynical view
>of the average voter's intelligence.
>        4.  Expressing jaded or scornful skepticism or negativity: cynical
>laughter.
Safe memory management in C++ - negative.
Crash-safety without formal proving - pessimistic.
Templates and functional style in C++ - cynical laugher.

Etc, etc.


So, Ocaml may be positioned as a tool for someone who don't care about
tales about some languages or programming styles, but just gonna make
something really done and really working.

-- 
Best regards,
 Alexander                          mailto:apetrov at naumen.ru