Polymorphic Data Types, Objects, Modules and Functors, : Is It Too Much?

Abstraction is a powerful tool for developers and it is o ered by numerous features such as polymorphism classes modules and functors A working programmer may be confused with this abundance We develop a computer algebra library which is being certi ed Reporting this experience made with a language Ocaml o ering all these features we argue that they are all needed together We compare several ways of using classes to represent algebraic concepts trying to follow as close as possible mathematical speci cation Then we show how to combine classes and modules to produce code having very strong typing properties Currently this library is made of one hundred units of functional code and behaves faster than analogous ones such as Axiomion is a powerful tool for developers and it is o ered by numerous features such as polymorphism classes modules and functors A working programmer may be confused with this abundance We develop a computer algebra library which is being certi ed Reporting this experience made with a language Ocaml o ering all these features we argue that they are all needed together We compare several ways of using classes to represent algebraic concepts trying to follow as close as possible mathematical speci cation Then we show how to combine classes and modules to produce code having very strong typing properties Currently this library is made of one hundred units of functional code and behaves faster than analogous ones such as Axiom