May 9, 1996
OCaml language released
On May 9, 1996, Xavier Leroy released OCaml 1.00 — a fast, type-safe language combining functional programmingA style emphasizing functions and immutable data over step-by-step state changes — influences Haskell, Lisp, and modern languages. with objects and modules.
What it was for
OCaml catches many bugs at compile time through strong types and pattern matching, while staying practical for systems work. Jane Street uses it for trading systems; it powers parts of the Coq proof assistant ecosystem and lightweight operating systems. It influenced F#, RustA systems language emphasizing memory safety without garbage collection — fast adoption in infrastructure.'s safety ideas, and verified software research.
Why it's here
OCaml 1.00 was the first public release to combine objects with ML-style type safety and a production-speed native compiler.
Why it mattered
It became the go-to industrial ML-family language — influencing F#, RustA systems language emphasizing memory safety without garbage collection — fast adoption in infrastructure., and formally verified software.
What it solved
The previous Caml dialect needed objects without giving up the static safety and module system researchers relied on.
Media
- ImageOCaml
OCaml.org project, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Haskell language publishedApril 1, 1990
- F# 2.0 shipped with Visual Studio 2010April 12, 2010
- Pascal language report publishedNovember 1, 1970