3 ms·

Besides syntax, the semantics are indeed quite similar. The choice is between Erlang's VM and the JVM. The usual reasons apply.

• alco 12y ago
  The differences are more than just in syntax. Elixir is also a standard lib that many enjoy, out-of-the box tooling (even Erlang folks have praised mix, the project manager for Elixir), meta-programming. For example, this code generates a bunch of functions using some compile-time code execution and a macro: https://github.com/alco/benchfella/blob/2513f85eff3886fdf1b362980ce59cf279362e26/test/benchfella_bench.exs https://github.com/alco/benchfella/blob/2513f85eff3886fdf1b3.... Doing the same in Erlang would involve using some 3rd party tool for code generation or doing the whole thing at runtime, in a more verbose way. In short, achieving similar development productivity with Erlang would be quite a challenge.
  • mononcqc 12y ago
    The best version of that test would be done with a tool like QuickCheck, PropEr, or Triq, which would do property-based testing, and allow to get much better coverage and reporting of problem cases. Edit: I assumed this was a test, turns out it's a benchmark. My bad.