Quoting (part 2) For example, the AST for this Ocaml code: List.map (fun x -> x+1) [1; 2; 3] Is written (in Ocaml) as this value: ExApp (loc, ExApp (loc, ExAcc (loc, ExUid (loc, "List"), ExLid (loc, "map")), ExFun (loc, [(PaLid (loc, "x"), None, ExApp (loc, ExApp (loc, ExLid (loc, "+"), ExLid (loc, "x")), ExInt (loc, "1")))])), ExApp (loc, ExApp (loc, ExUid (loc, "::"), ExInt (loc, "1")), ExApp (loc, ExApp (loc, ExUid (loc, "::"), ExInt (loc, "2")), ExApp (loc, ExApp (loc, ExUid (loc, "::"), ExInt (loc, "3")), ExUid (loc, "[]"))))) Which is completely tedious to write down.