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I've been using Erlang for nearly 20 years, on and off, and I think a reason it's not more popular is that it has always felt like a tool that is really good fo

by davidw 3y ago

I've been using Erlang for nearly 20 years, on and off, and I think a reason it's not more popular is that it has always felt like a tool that is really good for some things, but maybe not so good for this or that random task. If you pick Python or Ruby or Java, you know you can probably do the thing in question, whatever it is, even if that language isn't the perfect fit for it. As well as the next thing and the thing after that. There's something in your toolbox for it. With Erlang, the toolbox didn't always have that depth. It's gotten better with Elixir on the scene, but there were times when I would wade in and fix upstream bits and pieces with Erlang libs. That very rarely happens to me with Ruby. That said, it is a fantastic system for some problems and I really miss working with it.

arrowsmith 3y ago
Can you elaborate on which problems you think Erlang is really good for, and which ones it's less good for?
- davidw 3y ago
  I think the closer you hew to the original Ericsson use, the more certain you are that it's going to be a great fit. We used it as the command and control language for these: https://www.icare-world.com/us/product/icare-eidon/ https://www.icare-world.com/us/product/icare-eidon/ * Semi-embedded system that's used as an appliance, not a computer. * Runs in an environment where people mostly don't want to mess with it. Might be days between reboots; might get turned off every night. * Has to be pretty deterministic in terms of memory usage, response times, and so on. * Recovers from something going wrong by going to a known-good state. We didn't actually use any of the distributed aspects of it, but it worked out great for the other stuff.
- masklinn 3y ago
  > which ones it's less good for? Scripting, string munging, any sort of small task, anything which runs locally (unless it’s changed significantly erlang’s distribution story is the worst).

by davidw 3y ago

arrowsmith 3y ago

Can you elaborate on which problems you think Erlang is really good for, and which ones it's less good for?

davidw 3y ago
I think the closer you hew to the original Ericsson use, the more certain you are that it's going to be a great fit. We used it as the command and control language for these: https://www.icare-world.com/us/product/icare-eidon/ https://www.icare-world.com/us/product/icare-eidon/ * Semi-embedded system that's used as an appliance, not a computer. * Runs in an environment where people mostly don't want to mess with it. Might be days between reboots; might get turned off every night. * Has to be pretty deterministic in terms of memory usage, response times, and so on. * Recovers from something going wrong by going to a known-good state. We didn't actually use any of the distributed aspects of it, but it worked out great for the other stuff.
masklinn 3y ago
> which ones it's less good for? Scripting, string munging, any sort of small task, anything which runs locally (unless it’s changed significantly erlang’s distribution story is the worst).