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0 pointsyodsanklai1y ago0 comments

> Most companies don't want to hire OCaml and Haskellers

Most companies don't even know that these are programming languages. Also don't assume people interested in these languages are "the best". Regarding JS, this is all hearsay, but I think nowadays they hire good profiles (competitive programmers / olympiad winner / top graduates from prestigious schools), ask them hard leetcode questions, and teach them OCaml (which anybody can learn, not particularly hard. Their talent pool isn't restricted to the OCaml community, as it used to be when they were less famous, except for niche use case (compiler work and so on...)

0 comments

UK-Al051y ago

I'm not saying people interested in OCaml are the best. I'm saying you don't have to worry about smart people being incapable of understanding OCaml.

You got the direction the wrong way around.

Ask to introduce OCaml at any company. The first thing is they're worried about is not being able to find people. To which the answer is to train them. But then they're worried some people just won't be able to learn ocaml quickly enough. To which my answer is hire people who are good enough to learn it quickly. But then they get worried those people are expensive. Ultimately it comes down to not being willing to pay.

sevagh1y ago

I think you equating people that aren't OCaml or Jane Street caliber as "bottom of the bucket" was a touch inflammatory.

UK-Al051y ago

Companies that want to maintain the ability to outsource or hire cheap developers if push comes to shove is actually pretty common. They want commodity labour.

DaiPlusPlus1y ago

To be fair, another reason for avoiding OCaml, or other kinds of almost-esoteric tooling is a business need for longevity of support and of the ecosystem: if you choose something like Java you have a reasonable belief that, at any point in the next 20 years, if something breaks then you’ll be able to call a phone-number and pay through the nose to get it working again. Companies don’t mind paying large amounts of money for an expert, provided those experts are available. But in 2024 try finding an expert for some dBase 4GL system from 1998 that only runs on AS400.

cess111y ago

OCaml has been going since 1996 and is managed by an academic institution in France. It's also much more portable and malleable than dBase for DOS on old iron.

bmoxb1y ago

I interviewed there and can confirm they don't require you to know any OCaml (though I did have some Haskell on my CV - I don't know if that was a factor in hearing back or not). The questions are LC-adjacent but the interview is structured such that each question builds on the previous one.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsyodsanklai1y ago0 comments

> Most companies don't want to hire OCaml and Haskellers

0 comments

UK-Al051y ago

I'm not saying people interested in OCaml are the best. I'm saying you don't have to worry about smart people being incapable of understanding OCaml.

You got the direction the wrong way around.

sevagh1y ago

I think you equating people that aren't OCaml or Jane Street caliber as "bottom of the bucket" was a touch inflammatory.

UK-Al051y ago

Companies that want to maintain the ability to outsource or hire cheap developers if push comes to shove is actually pretty common. They want commodity labour.

DaiPlusPlus1y ago

cess111y ago

OCaml has been going since 1996 and is managed by an academic institution in France. It's also much more portable and malleable than dBase for DOS on old iron.

bmoxb1y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse