

Try Erlang, a hands-on tutorial - sdp
http://www.tryerlang.org/

======
rednum
Some notes after doing a few steps of tutorial:

\- a simple command history feature in the shell would be really nice

\- I wish the notification that I don't follow tutorial didn't appear there
each time I try to play with the shell - well, I like the tutorial but I want
to play on my own for a few moments, and this message is quite a distraction

\- also, proceeding to next step of the tutorial could be done in some other
way - e.g. I see logical operators and I try some of them, and they all
disappear when i type one; it would be much easier for a newbie to learn some
erlang if they stayed a bit longer on the screen

\- there should be a 'back' button in some visible place too - e.g. next to
clear window and reset - I can't find it at the moment

EDIT#1: formatting

EDIT#2: well, it seems that history is there - it just didn't work for some
reason in my browser when I started. At the moment I am stuck in lists and
tuples - whatever I do in 'Building a list' section I got a message it is not
I am meant to do - is the tutorial bugged (or is it my browser again)?

~~~
sdp
Building a list doesn't work for me either. It gives every indication that I
succeeded in creating a list, but the tutorial tells me I'm not doing the
right thing. =(

------
uros643
Don't get me wrong, I respect these try-X efforts. But they have glaring
annoyances (usually popping up in the name of Security) that are just begging
me to open a good old-fashioned command-line REPL (but that's if I'm at my own
computer).

For instance, in Try Erlang, io:format is out of reach, not to mention spawn.
Same goes for Try Clojure: there doesn't appear to be a way to create threads.

Don't you think, given the languages we're talking about here, that these
projects are self-handicapping from the start? (the seriousness of those
security measures notwithstanding)

I'm getting the feeling that these online REPLs were created just to show that
it's possible to do, not to address any practical concern or to highlight a
strength of these languages.

Again, I don't mean to disparage the efforts of the authors. Just my $0.02

~~~
andrewtj
I think these sites are trying to cater more toward FUD-encumbered newbies
than those for whom installing and having a play with a new language is second
nature.

~~~
andrewtj
Would the down-voter care to explain their rationale?

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vmind
Very nice so far. The online REPL tutorials are always a great opportunity to
try something new quickly.

"Operations on integers (and floats) include addiction.." Just a rather
amusing typo in one of the first sections.

~~~
nickpinkston
Yea, I'm with you - this is a great way to get people tinkering with a new
language. Does anyone know of any similar websites for for playing with other
languages? I'd love to see a language test drive site with as many languages
as possible in a format like this.

~~~
chrisdone
<http://tryruby.org>

<http://tryhaskell.org>

<http://try-clojure.org>

------
roryokane
It’s pretty annoying to have to type “.” after every expression. I’m sure
there’s a reason for it in Erlang, but perhaps it would be better for the
tutorial to automatically add it for you for the first few sections of the
tutorial, until you learn what it really means, and come upon a situation
where you finally don’t want it. At the very least, a clearer warning message
than “syntax error” should be shown if you forget the dot, in one of those
fading black rectangles.

~~~
rubyrescue
i think it's good that it makes you type it as it quickly becomes a habit and
you need the practice when you first start erlang.

However, perhaps he can put a big floating arrow pointing left that just sits
there saying "DONT FORGET THE PERIOD" as soon as you hit enter without a
period.

------
fbu
I got a 503, anyone else does?

~~~
zck
It was up 15 minutes ago. My guess is there were too many concurrent users.

~~~
atlbeer
Ironic for erlang..

I kid.. I kid

~~~
zck
Glad you got the joke. :)

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prone
This video is also a great way to get up to speed on Erlang:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyVvGjNjBOA>

------
jacktang
This is not exactly what was requested by the current tutorial step. Feel free
to play with the shell, anyway.

Erlang R13B04 (erts-5.7.5) > node(). "This functionality has been disabled for
security reasons in tryerlang.org." > q(). "This functionality has been
disabled for security reasons in tryerlang.org." > ls(). "This functionality
has been disabled for security reasons in tryerlang.org." >

------
rubyrescue
first thing i did, lists:map(fun(X) -> X * 2 end, lists:seq(1,100)), and it
worked! very cool.

next thing i did: application:which_applications(), and that didn't work.

------
metamemetics
_Expressions using arithmetical operators

Operations on integers (and floats) include addiction_[sic]

