ReasonML & ReasonReact: X Marks the Spot

ReasonML is a new/old programming language developed by Facebook and the creators of ReactJS. ReasonReact is a library for React implemented in (and redesigned) for ReasonML.

ReasonML the language is really a new syntax for the venerable OCaml programming language -- much the same relationship as TypeScript to standard JavaScript. This syntax is transpiled into regular OCaml and then is itself compiled by the existing OCaml tooling. This allows Reason to be compiled to bytecode or native. Reason gains JavaScript output via a sister project called BuckleScript. BuckleScript creates very efficient and readable JS output.

This talk covers the ReasonML language and tooling and makes the case for why ReasonReact may be its killer app. More broadly, the talk argues that languages with feature sets similar to OCaml, Elm, SML, and F# are a strong fit for the kind of general-purpose application development that most programmers do.