
Efene: an Erlang VM language that embraces the Zen of Python - pyotrgalois
https://medium.com/this-is-not-a-monad-tutorial/efene-an-erlang-vm-language-that-embraces-the-python-zen-db9b4d840614#.h6w6o14v8
======
armitron
Zen of Python? This is funny.

Python is a terribly structured language, full of atrocities like unicode
handling, decorators/metaclasses, object system, crippled lambda, braindead
"functional" style, idiotic module system (hot code updates yay! oh no it
doesn't really work!)

It started out as a Christmas hack and it hasn't really evolved much from then
on. The same crap in the core, just more sugar on top. A language aimed at the
lowest common denominator, designed to make you think "programming is easy!"
but ill-suited to solving any sort of hard problem in a graceful fashion.

Why would anyone want _any_ of that on the Erlang VM?

~~~
homarp
You're so right. Luckily, we have php.

the Christmas joke starts from: [http://python-
history.blogspot.com/2009/01/brief-timeline-of...](http://python-
history.blogspot.com/2009/01/brief-timeline-of-python.html) and
[https://www.python.org/doc/essays/foreword/](https://www.python.org/doc/essays/foreword/)

~~~
badwolf93
Thank you Brian! and the roman empire then for Bristmas, the terribly
braindead idiotic system yada, yada... argument it's that I can't really see
fair throw any useful kind of lens.

So it really surprises me and stuff.

------
badwolf93
I'm not a erlang expert but the use of the case statement is not considered a
bad practice? or was the if clause instead? and it seems to me that all is
kind of glued inside some sort of a try/catch defensive programming style that
the really zen of erlang is completely against.

Personally I don't see the need of use every tool in the same way, there is
nothing wrong with the erlang syntax.

~~~
biokoda
> I'm not a erlang expert but the use of the case statement is not considered
> a bad practice?

Only by people who see the world as black and white. There is absolutely
nothing wrong with case.

------
arthursilva
I don't want to be that guy, but annotations at the end of the line,
seriously?

All the @public at the end of the function headers really hurt the eye.

I think there's a reason 90%+ of the languages has either it above the
declaration of at the beginning of the line.

------
wcummings
Why does everyone keep trying to replace Erlang's syntax? The syntax pretty
closely reflects the feature set, unless you're significantly expanding that
why bother, you're only going make it worse.

~~~
phamilton
If "everyone" includes Elixir, I'd argue otherwise. While syntax is a part of
Elixir, them much bigger deal is the addition of Macros and Protocols. I'd
also weakly suggest that while the pipe operator is just syntax, it changes
idiomatic usage drastically.

~~~
wcummings
I think elixir significantly extends Erlang, so I would not include it.

------
k__
Get rid of the ends and I'm sold. Otherwise it's elixir all over again...

