How to define bytes in Ocaml?

Question

This is how I'm currently defining bytes and bits for a program in ocaml:

type bit = Zero of int | One of int

type byte_t = bit * bit * bit * bit * bit * bit * bit * bit

type block = byte_t * byte_t * byte_t * byte_t * byte_t * byte_t

These are super lengthy definitions, and will cause a lot of problems while implementation.

Is there a better way to implement these?

Answer 1

In the real world OCaml programming, we normally use char for the data type for bytes. It has 8bits.

Your definition of bit is strange. It should be simply:

type bit = Zero | One

or you can use bool instead.

If you are working on homework or something to learn algebraic way of data construction, the story may be different.