3 ms·

I think syntax matters more than some would like to imagine. I tried ruby, erlang and elixir. I went with python over ruby, lisp over erlang and I am playing wi

by eggy 12y ago

I think syntax matters more than some would like to imagine. I tried ruby, erlang and elixir. I went with python over ruby, lisp over erlang and I am playing with lfe (lisp flavoured erlang) over elixir. Function is important, but if you get most of it, why not choose the best syntax as a second factor in deciding? Besides, all the 'end's in elixir play out in my head of somebody ending all sentences with 'like'.

yellowapple 12y ago
The great thing about the Erlang/Elixir/LFE/etc. ecosystem right now is that, since all these languages leverage BEAM, they're all (theoretically at least) compatible with one another. Right now the tooling isn't quite there yet (trying to manage non-Erlang dependencies with Rebar or non-Elixir dependencies with Hex isn't quite as intuitive as I'd personally like), but eventually, I'd expect it to be possible to mix-and-match BEAM-based languages freely, using the right tool for the right job without having to fiddle with microframeworks or FFIs or other such things? This is already possible with other VM-centric ecosystems (particularly the ones surrounding the JVM and the .NET CLR), but it feels like the BEAM ecosystem is making that sort of interoperability more of an explicit goal.