Yes, I have been showing a bunch of examples of _systems_ that have these properties, such as the data structures in the linux kernel protected by RCU locks, mu

Yes, I have been showing a bunch of examples of _systems_ that have these properties, such as the data structures in the linux kernel protected by RCU locks, multi-version databases, git etc. Elm is certainly an excellent suggestion, and I will keep that in mind. Right now I have a bunch of super sharp EE people who are pretty decent python/C/embedded programmers, and I was looking for some language for which the barrier to entry is low. Elixir's environment (mix) doesn't feel simple. Maybe it is just a matter of a little time. The documentation constantly makes references to erlang and to Ruby, so a student feels a bit on edge about the scope of learning.