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ReasonML VS GHCJS

Compare ReasonML VS GHCJS and see what are their differences

ReasonML logo ReasonML

ReasonML is a new face to OCaml that--when coupled with BuckleScript--makes web development easy...

GHCJS logo GHCJS

Haskell to JavaScript compiler, based on GHC. Contribute to ghcjs/ghcjs development by creating an account on GitHub.
  • ReasonML Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-20
  • GHCJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-10

ReasonML features and specs

  • Type Safety
    ReasonML offers strong type inference and static type checking, which helps catch errors at compile time rather than at runtime, leading to more reliable code.
  • Compiled to Efficient JavaScript
    ReasonML can compile to highly efficient JavaScript through the BuckleScript backend, allowing developers to build performant web applications.
  • Interoperability
    ReasonML is designed to interoperate smoothly with JavaScript, which means you can incorporate it into existing JavaScript codebases without major restructuring.
  • OCaml Ecosystem
    ReasonML is built on top of the OCaml language, allowing developers to leverage the robust OCaml ecosystem, tools, and libraries.
  • Familiar Syntax
    ReasonML provides a syntax that is more familiar and approachable to JavaScript developers, making it easier to adopt and learn.

Possible disadvantages of ReasonML

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For developers not familiar with functional programming or OCaml, ReasonML can present a steep learning curve due to its paradigmatic differences from JavaScript.
  • Smaller Community
    ReasonML has a comparatively smaller community compared to other languages and frameworks, which might make finding resources or getting support more challenging.
  • Limited Libraries
    While it benefits from the OCaml ecosystem, the specific set of libraries and resources for ReasonML is still limited compared to JavaScript and its numerous frameworks.
  • Complex Tooling
    Setting up ReasonML projects can be complex due to its tooling and build systems, which might require more time to configure and understand.
  • Evolving Language
    ReasonML and its ecosystem are still evolving, with changes and updates that might require developers to frequently adapt their codebases.

GHCJS features and specs

  • Haskell to JavaScript Compilation
    GHCJS allows developers to compile Haskell code to JavaScript, enabling the use of Haskell’s advanced type system and functional programming features in web development.
  • Code Reusability
    Developers can reuse their Haskell codebase for both server-side and client-side applications, reducing code duplication and maintenance efforts.
  • Strong Type System
    Haskell’s strong static type system helps in catching errors at compile time, which can result in more robust and reliable code for web applications.
  • Interoperability
    GHCJS provides interoperability with existing JavaScript libraries and modules, allowing developers to integrate Haskell into existing JavaScript ecosystems smoothly.

Possible disadvantages of GHCJS

  • Performance Overhead
    Generated JavaScript code may have performance overhead compared to native JavaScript, which can affect the execution speed of web applications.
  • Tooling and Ecosystem
    The GHCJS ecosystem and tooling may not be as mature or extensive as more established JavaScript frameworks, potentially leading to challenges in debugging and developer support.
  • Compilation Complexity
    The compilation process from Haskell to JavaScript can be complex, and build times might be longer compared to traditional JavaScript projects.
  • Limited Community and Support
    The GHCJS community is relatively smaller compared to mainstream JavaScript communities, which might limit the availability of resources, tutorials, and third-party libraries.

ReasonML videos

ReasonML for Skeptics || Eric Schaefer

More videos:

  • Review - Ken Wheeler - ReasonML is Serious Business
  • Review - Gage Peterson - Why your ReasonML Evangelism isn't working | ReasonConf 2019

GHCJS videos

No GHCJS videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ReasonML and GHCJS)
Personal Finance
76 76%
24% 24
Financial Planner
73 73%
27% 27
Programming Language
100 100%
0% 0
Finance
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using ReasonML and GHCJS. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ReasonML should be more popular than GHCJS. It has been mentiond 40 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ReasonML mentions (40)

  • A 10x Faster TypeScript
    OCaml and Haskell already have that nice type system (and even more nice). If OCaml's syntax bothers you, there is Reason [1] which is a different frontend to the same compiler suite. Also in this space is Gleam [2] which targets Erlang / OTP, if high concurrency and fault tolerance is your cup of tea. [1]: https://reasonml.github.io/ [2]: https://gleam.run/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Ask HN: What less-popular systems programming language are you using?
    > The syntax is also not very friendly IMO. Very true. There's an alternate syntax for OCaml called "ReasonML" that looks much more, uh, reasonable: https://reasonml.github.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • An Ode to TypeScript Enums
    When I see this it makes me want to run for ReasonML/ReScript/Elm/PureScript. Sum types (without payloads on the instances they are effectively enums) should not require a evening filling ceremonial dance event to define. https://reasonml.github.io/ https://rescript-lang.org/ https://elm-lang.org/ https://www.purescript.org/ (any I forgot?) It's nice that TS is a strict super set of JS... But that's about the only... - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • How Jane Street accidentally built a better build system for OCaml
    Https://ocaml.org/docs/toplevel-introduction#loading-libraries-in-utop https://reasonml.github.io/ looks cool, OCaml with javascript. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • OCaml Syntax Sucks
    Fortunately, the OCaml compiler is very modular, and there have been efforts to make things more... reasonable. - Reason, a different syntactic frontend for regular OCaml: https://reasonml.github.io/ - ReScript, a language with OCaml semantics that compiles into: JS https://rescript-lang.org/ (I suppose it's a reincarnation of js-of-ocaml). - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
View more

GHCJS mentions (4)

  • Secretly introduced rust in my company, now they love it!
    There is a fork that compiles to js https://github.com/ghcjs/ghcjs compiler, and I believe the official glasgow compiler is working towards also supporting js/wasm (although I don't think they are supported as of yet). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is GHCJS stuck on GHC 8.6.5?
    Default branch on ghcjs github is 8.6. 8.10 is a wip with commit from around a month ago. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Why Do We Need Transpilation into JavaScript?
    At present, here at Typeable we develop frontend in Haskell and use the web framework Reflex and the functional reactive programming (FRP). The source code in Haskell is transpiled into the JavaScript code using GHCJS. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago
  • Why supporting all programming languages is a bad idea
    In theory it is possible to write applications that run in the web browser in Java or C# or C++. There are compilers to compile Java to JavaScript or C++ to JavaScript/WebAssembly and a C# runtime that runs in the browser. In practice these technologies are very niche and only used for very few applications. The Cardano Wallet Daedalus is written in JavaScript even though most of the software for Cardano is... Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ReasonML and GHCJS, you can also consider the following products

Mint - Free personal finance software to assist you to manage your money, financial planning, and budget planning tools. Achieve your financial goals with Mint.

PureScript - PureScript is a small strongly typed programming language that compiles to JavaScript.

Fay - A proper subset of Haskell that compiles to JavaScript - faylang/fay

Elm - A type inferred, functional reactive language that compiles to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Web Components - Native/Vanilla web components.

Haste - Decreases ping in video games.