François Pottier INRIA

Cαml (pronounced: “alphaCaml”) is a tool that accepts a binding specification and turns it into Objective Caml type definitions and code. The generated code relies on a library known as alphaLib. Roughly speaking, a binding specification is a definition of one or several algebraic data types, enriched with information about names (henceforth referred to as atoms) and binding. This information gives rise to a notion of α-equivalence over the values that inhabit these types. The code produced by Cαml is intended to help deal with this notion in a safe and concise style. This document is a reference manual. It is not a discussion of the problems raised by α-equivalence and of the various ways in which they can be addressed. Neither is it a tutorial introduction to Cαml. These topics are covered in a separate paper [1], which should be read first. Having a look at the demos that are shipped with Cαml is also recommended.