Alternatives to OCaml
A functional programming language with a strong static type system and a native-code compiler. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
OCaml
A functional programming language with a strong static type system and a native-code compiler.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as OCaml.
Scala
A programming language that combines object-oriented and functional programming, targeting the JVM and web.
Scala combines functional and object-oriented programming on the JVM with access to Java libraries, and also targets the web through Scala.js.
Gleam
A type-safe functional programming language that runs on the Erlang VM and JavaScript runtimes.
Gleam is a younger type-safe functional language that runs on the Erlang VM and JavaScript, with compiler, build tool and package manager in one.
Rust
A compiled systems programming language with no garbage collector, installed through the rustup toolchain manager.
Rust is a compiled systems language with strong static types and compile-time memory safety, but its ownership model takes time to learn.
Elixir
A dynamic, functional programming language that runs on the Erlang VM for scalable, maintainable applications.
Elixir is a functional language on the Erlang VM with a gradual type system rather than OCaml's strict static typing, suited to concurrent back-end systems.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Erlang/OTP
The Erlang programming language and OTP runtime for building concurrent, fault-tolerant distributed systems.
Compiler Explorer
An interactive web tool that shows the assembly and intermediate output of compiled code.
Zig
A general-purpose systems programming language and toolchain that also works as a drop-in C/C++ compiler.
LLVM
A collection of modular compiler and toolchain technologies, including the Clang C and C++ compiler.
