A Case Study in Modular Programming: Using AspectJ and OCaml in an Undergraduate Compiler Project

We report our experience in using two different languages to build the same software project. Specifically, we have converted an entire undergraduate compiler course from using AspectJ, an aspect-oriented language, to using OCaml, a functional language. The course has evolved over a period of eight years with, on average, 60 students completing it every year. In this article, we analyze our usage of the two programming languages and we compare and contrast the two software projects on a number of parameters, including how they enable students to write and test individual compiler phases in a modular way.