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Ffs, you're not looking at some small product that an unknown company built. You're looking at something that is really well-known. What does the website of Goo

Ffs, you're not looking at some small product that an unknown company built. You're looking at something that is really well-known. What does the website of Google convey? Do you really decide whether you'd learn a language by looking at its website? > "that the online reference doesn't cover interaction with anything outside of your program" This does NOT mean it does not teach you IO. The full bullet point is > "How to communicate with the outside world and/or software written in other languages (ports). There is however a separate tutorial for this, Interoperability Tutorial" It means it won't teach you FFI in a tutorial. > "guessing that Erlang is one of those functional languages that are great for mathematical proof-like software development but not practical for solving actual problems because the world is mutable and the language constructs are not." I don't know how you got to this dumb conclusion when "What is Erlang?" on the main page clearly states: > Erlang is a programming language used to build massively scalable soft real-time systems with requirements on high availability. Some of its uses are in telecoms, banking, e-commerce, computer telephony and instant messaging. Erlang's runtime system has built-in support for concurrency, distribution and fault tolerance.

yogo 13y ago
> Do you really decide whether you'd learn a language by looking at its website? I certainly could see myself doing that. It's usually indicative of the leadership and community that's associated with the language. In Erlang's case I understand that it's pretty niche in the big scheme of things, and that might be the reason. In terms of languages if the information presented isn't on the level of Java, PHP, Ruby, Python and others it comes off as sub-par. That may not be the reality but it's the perception IMO.
doktrin 13y ago
> You're looking at something that is really well-known. What does the website of Google convey? The Google comparison is comical. You are wildly over-estimating how well known Erlang is, even in the dev community. > Do you really decide whether you'd learn a language by looking at its website? Most devs learn a new language when it helps them solve a problem. Anyone who needs to solve the problems that Erlang addresses has already at least looked at Erlang. This thread was also directed at those who have never used Erlang. Starting with the Erlang website makes eminent sense. Specific example : Compare the Erland and Rust websites. I've never used Rust or Erlang. I can confidently say that the Rust website does a better job of familiarizing a new user with the language. It's not just a matter of the Rust syntax being C-derived, either. It's simply harder to find any useful information on the Erlang website. Rust : * code sample on landing page * comprehensive tutorial linked directly from landing page Erlang : * no code on landing page * "quick start guide" which is basically a link to a non-free book * Getting to actual code requires 3-4 clicks from the landing page * e.g. Documentation -> Course -> Sequential Programming Conclusion : The Erlang website isn't as useful as that of at least 1 other non-mainstream language.
- asattarmd 13y ago
  > Starting with the Erlang website makes eminent sense Of course it does. But stopping at the Erlang website because of the website makes much less sense. Find some other way to know more about the language and then decide whether you'll use it or not.
  - rspeer 13y ago
    Remember that the title of this thread is "Why isn't Erlang more popular?", not "Why Erlang is so great you'll try multiple times to seek out documentation for it".
- spullara 13y ago
  The last thing Erlang should put on its website to get new uses is Erlang source. Certainly the most off putting part of it.
  - pekk 13y ago
    That is a great idea, assuming the new users of Erlang will continue to be able avoiding Erlang code
- coldtea 13y ago
  >You are wildly over-estimating how well known Erlang is, even in the dev community Well, it's pretty well known in the competent dev community. Some guy doing CRUD apps for some enterprise might not know it, true.
  - doktrin 13y ago
    lol. This silly elitism needs to die.
    - coldtea 13y ago
      Why, because all programming endeavours are equally hard or important, and all programmers have equal skills?
brown9-2 13y ago
Imagine you know nothing about Erlang, as the poster was pretending. How do you decide if it's worth your time to learn more about that language/platform? Certainly what the official website tells you factors into that largely. You seem to be looking into this from the perspective that everyone must already know what Erlang is all about, so there doesn't need to be an effort to reach out to new users - which would contradict the questions the OP is asking.
- asattarmd 13y ago
  I'm not saying that Erlang shouldn't reach out to new users. I'm saying that new users should look past the website and put in a little effort to know about Erlang. Dismissing a language because of the its website is not just right.
  - gordonguthrie 13y ago
    Come on! I am writing LuvvieScript a compile-to-javascript dialect of Erlang. This is a list of compile-to-javascript languages: https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/wiki/List-of-languages-that-compile-to-JS https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/wiki/List-of-lang... Is any developer going to give every language on that list the same consideration? No. Not possible.
wonderzombie 13y ago
"Do you really decide whether you'd learn a language by looking at its website?" Kind of! Irrespective of Erlang's site, a well-maintained, informative, and newbie friendly website is often a signal. Maybe it's not a very accurate signal. But it's a signal which suggests that, for lack of a better term, the community exists and has its act together. There are enough other things to occupy programmers' time. People adopt heuristics like these — "how professional/modern does the website look?" — as a way to save time.

yogo 13y ago

> Do you really decide whether you'd learn a language by looking at its website? I certainly could see myself doing that. It's usually indicative of the leadership and community that's associated with the language. In Erlang's case I understand that it's pretty niche in the big scheme of things, and that might be the reason. In terms of languages if the information presented isn't on the level of Java, PHP, Ruby, Python and others it comes off as sub-par. That may not be the reality but it's the perception IMO.

doktrin 13y ago

> You're looking at something that is really well-known. What does the website of Google convey? The Google comparison is comical. You are wildly over-estimating how well known Erlang is, even in the dev community. > Do you really decide whether you'd learn a language by looking at its website? Most devs learn a new language when it helps them solve a problem. Anyone who needs to solve the problems that Erlang addresses has already at least looked at Erlang. This thread was also directed at those who have never used Erlang. Starting with the Erlang website makes eminent sense. Specific example : Compare the Erland and Rust websites. I've never used Rust or Erlang. I can confidently say that the Rust website does a better job of familiarizing a new user with the language. It's not just a matter of the Rust syntax being C-derived, either. It's simply harder to find any useful information on the Erlang website. Rust : * code sample on landing page * comprehensive tutorial linked directly from landing page Erlang : * no code on landing page * "quick start guide" which is basically a link to a non-free book * Getting to actual code requires 3-4 clicks from the landing page * e.g. Documentation -> Course -> Sequential Programming Conclusion : The Erlang website isn't as useful as that of at least 1 other non-mainstream language.

asattarmd 13y ago
> Starting with the Erlang website makes eminent sense Of course it does. But stopping at the Erlang website because of the website makes much less sense. Find some other way to know more about the language and then decide whether you'll use it or not.
- rspeer 13y ago
  Remember that the title of this thread is "Why isn't Erlang more popular?", not "Why Erlang is so great you'll try multiple times to seek out documentation for it".
spullara 13y ago
The last thing Erlang should put on its website to get new uses is Erlang source. Certainly the most off putting part of it.
- pekk 13y ago
  That is a great idea, assuming the new users of Erlang will continue to be able avoiding Erlang code
coldtea 13y ago
>You are wildly over-estimating how well known Erlang is, even in the dev community Well, it's pretty well known in the competent dev community. Some guy doing CRUD apps for some enterprise might not know it, true.
- doktrin 13y ago
  lol. This silly elitism needs to die.
  - coldtea 13y ago
    Why, because all programming endeavours are equally hard or important, and all programmers have equal skills?

brown9-2 13y ago

Imagine you know nothing about Erlang, as the poster was pretending. How do you decide if it's worth your time to learn more about that language/platform? Certainly what the official website tells you factors into that largely. You seem to be looking into this from the perspective that everyone must already know what Erlang is all about, so there doesn't need to be an effort to reach out to new users - which would contradict the questions the OP is asking.

asattarmd 13y ago
I'm not saying that Erlang shouldn't reach out to new users. I'm saying that new users should look past the website and put in a little effort to know about Erlang. Dismissing a language because of the its website is not just right.
- gordonguthrie 13y ago
  Come on! I am writing LuvvieScript a compile-to-javascript dialect of Erlang. This is a list of compile-to-javascript languages: https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/wiki/List-of-languages-that-compile-to-JS https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/wiki/List-of-lang... Is any developer going to give every language on that list the same consideration? No. Not possible.

wonderzombie 13y ago

"Do you really decide whether you'd learn a language by looking at its website?" Kind of! Irrespective of Erlang's site, a well-maintained, informative, and newbie friendly website is often a signal. Maybe it's not a very accurate signal. But it's a signal which suggests that, for lack of a better term, the community exists and has its act together. There are enough other things to occupy programmers' time. People adopt heuristics like these — "how professional/modern does the website look?" — as a way to save time.