  This archive contains the binaries for Caml Light 0.6, 80386 PC version.

CONTENTS

  copyrght.txt  copyright notice
  bin/          executable files
  lib/          library files
  examples/     various examples
  dev/          graphics device drivers, 80387 emulation
  info/         miscellaneous information

COPYRIGHT

  All files in this archive are copyright INRIA, and covered by the
  copyright notice in file COPYRGHT.TXT, except the files in the DEV
  directory, which are copyright D.J. Delorie and covered
  by the copyright notice in file INFO\COPYING.DJ.


OVERVIEW

  Caml Light is a small, portable implementation of the ML language,
  that runs on Unix machines, on the PC (both in 8086 real mode and in
  80386 protected mode), and on the Macintosh.

  Caml Light implements the Caml language, a functional language from
  the ML family. Caml is quite close to Standard ML, though not strictly
  conformant. There are some slight differences in syntax and semantics,
  and major differences in the module system (these changes were
  required to support separate compilation).

  Caml Light is implemented as a bytecode compiler, and fully
  bootstrapped. The whole system is quite small: about 100K for the runtime
  system, and another 100K of bytecode for the compiler. 1.2 megabyte of
  memory is enough to recompile the whole system. This stands in sharp
  contrast with other implementations of ML, such as SML-NJ, that
  requires about ten times more memory. Performance is quite good for a
  bytecoded implementation: five to ten times slower than SML-NJ.

  Caml Light comes in two flavors: a classical, interactive, toplevel-based
  system; and a standalone, batch-oriented compiler that produces standalone
  programs, in the spirit of the batch C compilers. The former is good for
  learning the language and testing programs. The latter integrates more
  smoothly within programming environments. The generated programs are
  quite small, and can be used as standalone programs.


REQUIREMENTS

  The 80386 PC version requires a PC equipped with a 80386 or 80486 processor,
  running MS-DOS version 3.3 or later. 2M of RAM. About 1.2M of free space
  on the disk. The graphics primitives require a VGA or SuperVGA video card.


INSTALLATION

  See the file INSTALL.TXT for installation instructions.


DOCUMENTATION

  The Caml Light system is described in the following documents:

  "The Caml Light system, version 0.6 -- documentation and user's guide"
  by Xavier Leroy.

  "Functional programming in Caml Light", by Michel Mauny.

  These manuals are distributed in Postscript, DVI and plain text formats.
  The archive site from which you obtained Caml Light should also carry
  the manuals. They can also be obtained by anonymous FTP from
  ftp.inria.fr as described below.


AVAILABILITY

  The whole Caml Light distribution resides on ftp.inria.fr, and can
  be accessed by anonymous FTP:

        host:       ftp.inria.fr
        directory:  lang/caml-light
        files:

  cl6manual.ps.Z        Documentation and user's guide, compressed Postscript
  cl6manual.dvi.Z       Documentation and user's guide, compressed DVI
  cl6manual.txt         Documentation and user's guide, plain ASCII text
  cl6manual.ipr         Documentation and user's guide,
                        ASCII text + italics and bold
  cl6tutorial.ps.Z      "Functional programming in Caml Light",
                        compressed Postscript
  cl6tutorial.dvi.Z     "Functional programming in Caml Light",
                        compressed DVI
  cl6tutorial.txt       "Functional programming in Caml Light",
                        plain ASCII text
  cl6tutorial.ipr       "Functional programming in Caml Light",
                        ASCII text + italics and bold, for impact printers
  cl6unix.tar.Z         Complete source code for Unix machines, plus a
                        bootstrap compiler.
  cl6macbin.sea.hqx     Binaries for the Macintosh version.
  cl6pc386bin.zip       Binaries for the 80386 PC version.
                        They run only on 80386 or 80486 processors,
                        in protected 32-bit mode.
  cl6pc86bin.zip        Binaries for the 8086 PC version.
                        They run on any PC, in native 16-bit mode.
  cl6macsrc.sea.hqx     Source code for the Macintosh version.
  cl6pc386src.zip       Source code for the 80386 PC version.
  cl6pc86src.zip        Source code for the 8086 PC version.


KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THE CAML COMMUNITY:

  There exists a mailing list of users of the Caml and Caml Light
  systems developed at INRIA. The purpose of this list is to share
  experience, exchange ideas (and even code), and report on applications
  of the Caml language. This list is moderated; messages can be
  written in English or in French. 

  Messages to the list should be sent to:

                caml-list@margaux.inria.fr

  If you wish to subscribe to this list, please send a message
  (including your email address) to:

                caml-list-request@margaux.inria.fr


BUG REPORTS AND USER FEEDBACK:

  Send your bug reports by E-mail to

          caml-light@margaux.inria.fr

  or by paper mail to

          Caml Light, projet Formel
          INRIA Rocquencourt
          B.P. 105
          78153 Le Chesnay cedex
          France

  To be effective, bug reports should include a complete program (as
  small as possible) that exhibits the unexpected behavior, and the
  configuration you are using (machine type, etc).

  We welcome your bug reports and comments, but no guarantees are offered
  as to when they will be dealt with.
  We cannot guarantee any answer to your questions.
  Also, we react extremely negatively to any attempt at contacting us
  directly by phone.


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The 80836 PC version has been made possible by the availability of DJGPP,
  D.J. Delaurie's excellent port of the GNU CC compiler to MS-DOS. More
  information about DJGPP can be found in the file INFO\README.DJ.
  The graphics primitives are built on top of Csaba Biegl's graphics
  library LIBGRX, distributed with DJGPP.
