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Not really. Experience after designing and deploying systems that run 100,000 transactions/sec per box: don't bother with engineers that cannot achieve profici

by tempz 10y ago

Not really. Experience after designing and deploying systems that run 100,000 transactions/sec per box: don't bother with engineers that cannot achieve proficiency in Erlang. Elixir is a crutch, and not something you want to show up with in 400 meters hurdles race. You will look pathetic.

kevinjcliao 10y ago
https://blog.discordapp.com/how-discord-handles-push-request-bursts-of-over-a-million-per-minute-with-elixirs-genstage-8f899f0221b4#.5y7u46ajx https://blog.discordapp.com/how-discord-handles-push-request... Erlang has its uses and Elixir has its uses. Dismissing Elixir's userbase as 'pathetic' is pretty rude and a disservice to a pretty incredible language. See the Discord article where they clearly demonstrate Elixir and Genstage are ready for production and can be used to write performant services. I get that you really like Erlang and its quirks, but maybe there are more mature ways of expressing this love than calling Elixir users 'pathetic'.
- mnd 10y ago
  Unrelated to your discussion with the parent, but I just wanted to point out that the fact that a system which was implemented in Elixir and runs on the Erlang virtual machine is able to sustain that traffic (and here I am referring to the link you posted) is and should be regarded as, largely, a quality of the Erlang virtual machine, and only to a very small extent to the programming language that it has been implemented in, if any at all. The fact that a system implemented in Elixir can sustain a large quantity of traffic while running on the Erlang virtual machine does not prove much about Elixir itself, other than the fact that it’s usable; you can implement the exact same system in Erlang also, or any other programming language for that matter. There is no inherent quality of Elixir itself that makes programs handle large amounts of traffic. That’s a quality of the Erlang virtual machine; Elixir is just syntax.
  - kevinjcliao 10y ago
    Thanks for your clarification. I think 'just syntax' is a bit dismissive of the importance that well-designed syntax has on being able to reason clearly in a certain way. Elixir's "just syntax" has made it so easy for me to understand FP concepts like pattern matching and higher order functions. I've struggled with these concepts before while trying to learn Haskell, Erlang and many other FP languages. Does that make me a bad programmer? The parent commenter would certainly think so. I totally take your point that everything written in Elixir could be written in Erlang. That much is a fact. However, my point in saying they serve different uses is saying that better syntax in itself isn't nothing. If a language enables many people to grasp actor-based concurrency in an easy to understand fashion, can we reduce that to "just syntax"? I guess my point is that introducing syntactic clarity is in itself a massive feature that shouldn't be dismissed. I hope that further explains my intent!
    - mnd 10y ago
      My point was not that everything which is written in Elixir can be written in Erlang but mostly that using a reference to a system that sustains a large amount of traffic which is implemented in Elixir and runs on top of the Erlang virtual machine as an argument for how incredible Elixir is, is naive at best, as Elixir is just a layer on top of many Erlang libraries and also the Erlang virtual machine. Yes, syntax can matter, but you can discuss that later when you discuss maintainability and other software design and maintenance issues. You cannot discuss syntax and then argue that your program sustains large amounts of traffic; you can, but it’s pointless. And to answer your first question, although I thought I was very clear that I do not want to take part in your discussion with the parent: no, I do not think that you are a bad programmer for learning Elixir, I think if you were to only learn Elixir, call it a day, and then spread the word of how incredible Elixir is, you would be, however. Programming languages are just that, programming languages. The more you know the better and there is no silver bullet. As you will get back to Haskell you will probably come to appreciate its powers. Also, the fact that you have not grasped Haskell’s syntax when you have first tried does not make it a poor functional programming language and it certainly does not make Elixir a better designed functional programming language. That’s just your perception because Elixir was, for you, easier to learn. The fact that I cannot comprehend particle physics does not necessarily make particle physics a badly designed model.
jknoepfler 10y ago
You literally just suggested that someone who writes semantically identical code in a more readable language will look pathetic to you. I think you're confusing nerd-cred with engineering ability. For the record, I will employ the person who prefers to write in Elixir but can work with legacy Erlang before I will employ someone who thinks there's special magic in an obtuse syntax...
- esra 10y ago
  I'd say it's extremely subjective which language is more readable, for some that might be Elixir and for others it's Erlang.

by tempz 10y ago

kevinjcliao 10y ago

https://blog.discordapp.com/how-discord-handles-push-request-bursts-of-over-a-million-per-minute-with-elixirs-genstage-8f899f0221b4#.5y7u46ajx https://blog.discordapp.com/how-discord-handles-push-request... Erlang has its uses and Elixir has its uses. Dismissing Elixir's userbase as 'pathetic' is pretty rude and a disservice to a pretty incredible language. See the Discord article where they clearly demonstrate Elixir and Genstage are ready for production and can be used to write performant services. I get that you really like Erlang and its quirks, but maybe there are more mature ways of expressing this love than calling Elixir users 'pathetic'.

mnd 10y ago
Unrelated to your discussion with the parent, but I just wanted to point out that the fact that a system which was implemented in Elixir and runs on the Erlang virtual machine is able to sustain that traffic (and here I am referring to the link you posted) is and should be regarded as, largely, a quality of the Erlang virtual machine, and only to a very small extent to the programming language that it has been implemented in, if any at all. The fact that a system implemented in Elixir can sustain a large quantity of traffic while running on the Erlang virtual machine does not prove much about Elixir itself, other than the fact that it’s usable; you can implement the exact same system in Erlang also, or any other programming language for that matter. There is no inherent quality of Elixir itself that makes programs handle large amounts of traffic. That’s a quality of the Erlang virtual machine; Elixir is just syntax.
- kevinjcliao 10y ago
  Thanks for your clarification. I think 'just syntax' is a bit dismissive of the importance that well-designed syntax has on being able to reason clearly in a certain way. Elixir's "just syntax" has made it so easy for me to understand FP concepts like pattern matching and higher order functions. I've struggled with these concepts before while trying to learn Haskell, Erlang and many other FP languages. Does that make me a bad programmer? The parent commenter would certainly think so. I totally take your point that everything written in Elixir could be written in Erlang. That much is a fact. However, my point in saying they serve different uses is saying that better syntax in itself isn't nothing. If a language enables many people to grasp actor-based concurrency in an easy to understand fashion, can we reduce that to "just syntax"? I guess my point is that introducing syntactic clarity is in itself a massive feature that shouldn't be dismissed. I hope that further explains my intent!
  - mnd 10y ago
    My point was not that everything which is written in Elixir can be written in Erlang but mostly that using a reference to a system that sustains a large amount of traffic which is implemented in Elixir and runs on top of the Erlang virtual machine as an argument for how incredible Elixir is, is naive at best, as Elixir is just a layer on top of many Erlang libraries and also the Erlang virtual machine. Yes, syntax can matter, but you can discuss that later when you discuss maintainability and other software design and maintenance issues. You cannot discuss syntax and then argue that your program sustains large amounts of traffic; you can, but it’s pointless. And to answer your first question, although I thought I was very clear that I do not want to take part in your discussion with the parent: no, I do not think that you are a bad programmer for learning Elixir, I think if you were to only learn Elixir, call it a day, and then spread the word of how incredible Elixir is, you would be, however. Programming languages are just that, programming languages. The more you know the better and there is no silver bullet. As you will get back to Haskell you will probably come to appreciate its powers. Also, the fact that you have not grasped Haskell’s syntax when you have first tried does not make it a poor functional programming language and it certainly does not make Elixir a better designed functional programming language. That’s just your perception because Elixir was, for you, easier to learn. The fact that I cannot comprehend particle physics does not necessarily make particle physics a badly designed model.

jknoepfler 10y ago

You literally just suggested that someone who writes semantically identical code in a more readable language will look pathetic to you. I think you're confusing nerd-cred with engineering ability. For the record, I will employ the person who prefers to write in Elixir but can work with legacy Erlang before I will employ someone who thinks there's special magic in an obtuse syntax...

esra 10y ago
I'd say it's extremely subjective which language is more readable, for some that might be Elixir and for others it's Erlang.