5 ms·

Erlang (the language, the runtime and the OTP framework) is a fascinating alternative in the design space for programming languages. Always happy to read about

• brightball 6y ago
  Agreed. After reading enough about it I’ve become convinced that there are only 2 different platforms in the world. OTP/BEAM and everything else. Every other language that I’ve studied seems to just cope with the same problems in slightly different ways.
  • macintux 6y ago
    Erlang/OTP/BEAM are so unusual within the computing world: highly opinionated components that, thanks to their constraints, are keenly complementary and optimized for each other. No kitchen sink language here: play by their rules or choose a different environment.
    • idolaspecus 6y ago
      Contrarily, this is exactly what makes Unix environments so powerful (and wonderful). The "Unix Philosophy" is typically considered unopinionated (in the "let the user choose" sense), but I'd say that it's more like it has a few very strong yet well-chosen opinions that produce a highly integrated universe where all sorts of different tools just work.
• the_only_law 6y ago
  Yes Erlang is one of the few languages I instantly liked upon reading about it and playing with it, even outside its typically parroted features it has a ton of stuff I wish was available in more languages (working with bit oriented protocols is so much more pleasant in Erlang than most languages thanks to bitstrings). However, as other have mentioned it’s not exactly a go to for general purpose stuff and even when it seems a perfect fit, I often have to look elsewhere for a variety of reasons.