Less Power for More Learning: Restricting OCaml Features for Effective Teaching
summary
Framework sandboxes OCaml by supplying a modified standard library (used via -no‑pervasive) and a PPX AST checker that rejects forbidden syntax, plus a mock IO for testing IO exercises; implementation lives at github.com/just-max/less-power. It runs on Dune and a CI/Artemis runner, takes ~16–24 hours to author an exercise, handled 21 exercises with an average of 652 submissions and exam exercises with ~400 submissions each, and yields savings versus ~15 minutes manual grading once a course exceeds ~60–100 students.
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chapters (7)
- 0:00Introduction and motivation
- 1:01Framework challenges
- 4:41Library restrictions
- 7:23Syntax and AST enforcement
- 9:46Interface checking
- 12:24Practical implementation
- 14:27Questions and answers
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