
Why Elixir Is the Programming Language You Should Learn in 2020 - lobo_tuerto
https://www.erlang-solutions.com/blog/why-elixir-is-the-programming-language-you-should-learn-in-2020.html
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eggy
I like Elixir and tried it out a few years ago. I would learn Erlang if going
back now. The trouble with both for me is that if you are not developing to a
fault-tolerant specification and need number crunching, the Erlang family of
PLs are not performant. Yes, you could use NIFs written in Zig, but that's
like using Python and calling all those C libs and functions. Elixir is great
in that it is being used for full stack development with the likes of Phoenix
and the BEAM/OTP, this is a good thing. I was interested in Nerves back then
too, and I had read most of the book "The Handbook of Neuroevolution Through
Erlang", and while greatly informative and fun, I am now back with C, Zig, J,
extempore's xtlang, and F#. I am looking into HPC with UNUMS and Elixir and
Erlang just don't fit my personal projects. I do like them though, but I would
probably choose LFE for personal fun and Elixir for employment.

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ttymck
"Rewarding Career Progression"

> As a result, Elixir developers have the opportunity to work for wide
> spectrum of companies such as PepsiCo, Pinterest, Lonely Planet or MBTA.

Sorry but, it's not clear how listing a few "tech" companies indicates a
"rewarding career progression"? Can anyone elaborate?

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Cyph0n
So you don’t dream of working as a software developer at PepsiCo?

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silveraxe93
My application to CocaCola got rejected, but I guess Pepsi is fine too. ;)

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ncmncm
According to comments on a recent Ask HN post[0], most of the opportunities to
use Elixir in industry are for consultants either (1) supporting subsystems
abandoned by corporate employees who have moved on, or (2) assisting companies
to migrate from Elixir to a solution easier to hire for, to avoid expenses and
limited availability of help with (1).

Upsell opportunity would be to offer (2) after delivering (1).

[0]
<[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23283675>](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23283675>)

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AlchemistCamp
Many of my customers are using Elixir for new startups or new projects.
Probably over half.

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ncmncm
Future consulting gigs FTW!

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satvikpendem
Unfortunately, without static typing, I can't use Elixir, no matter how good
they say Dialyzer is. I've been using Rust these days because it has algebraic
data types.

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AlchemistCamp
This is a very generic, low value dismissal that has little to do with Elixir
in general. In fact, due to its immutability, use of struts and pattern
matching it's the safest dynamic language I've ever worked with.

Six of YC's most successful ten companies built on Ruby, a dynamic mutable
language with method missing and monkey patching. Just because _you_ can't use
a dynamically typed language doesn't mean they're not useful for anyone.

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satvikpendem
That is what I said, that _I_ can't use Elixir. And I have used Elixir before,
often learning via your tutorials. This comes just from my personal
experience, not to be taken as a dismissal of the language as a whole. Of
course, many people use Elixir and Erlang, and Whatsapp even built a 50
billion dollar business out of it before acquisition.

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AlchemistCamp
Fair enough! To each their own. FWIW, I've been getting pretty into Rust this
year, too (for WASM and NIFs).

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Quekid5
... by erlang-solutions.com.

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tamrix
All they're missing is several fake user accounts on the comment section
praising the article with fake reviews.

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akmittal
There is nothing specific in article, all those points apply to alomost all
modern languages Go, Rust, Kotlin

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atonse
We have been using Elixir for years, going on more than a half dozen projects
in production now.

It’s been excellent and a pleasure to work with. We’re currently hiring remote
contractors (US only) for our Covid related projects. Get in touch!

