Chapter 25  The standard library

This chapter describes the functions provided by the OCaml standard library. The modules from the standard library are automatically linked with the user’s object code files by the ocamlc command. Hence, these modules can be used in standalone programs without having to add any .cmo file on the command line for the linking phase. Similarly, in interactive use, these globals can be used in toplevel phrases without having to load any .cmo file in memory.

Unlike the core Stdlib module, submodules are not automatically “opened” when compilation starts, or when the toplevel system is launched. Hence it is necessary to use qualified identifiers to refer to the functions provided by these modules, or to add open directives.

Conventions

For easy reference, the modules are listed below in alphabetical order of module names. For each module, the declarations from its signature are printed one by one in typewriter font, followed by a short comment. All modules and the identifiers they export are indexed at the end of this report.