
A Case for Erlang - jcwentz
http://metalinguist.wordpress.com/2007/07/04/case-for-erlang/
======
Alex3917
I've spent the last couple weeks teaching myself Erlang. The Programming
Erlang book that comes out in two weeks is pretty good, and the folks in
#erlang have also been helpful. The syntax is generally simple and memorable
enough that you won't forget how it works if you take a week off from hacking.
All in all it is pretty easy to learn.

I haven't written a huge volume of code yet, although that is partly because
the language is so powerful that a lot of programs are only two or three lines
long. For example, there is a function that iterates through a list one
element at a time, applies a function to that element, and then outputs a new
list as a result. This means that 95% of the text processing I've done has
just been using this one line code snippet. (This works because strings are
treated internally as lists, so you iterate through the string one char at a
time.)

I'm not a hacker so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but so far so good.

~~~
tuukkah
This special function is called map in other languages too :-) Next thing you
notice you're using folds...

------
henning
If anyone tells you Erlang isn't proven and isn't "ready for prime time,"
punch them in the face. Hard.

~~~
pg
Instead I'd write a successful application in it. Usually showing people
they're wrong is more effective than telling them so.

~~~
henning
You can prove them wrong as many times as you want and if your language isn't
spelled J-A-V-A or C-# then it doesn't matter how many 9s of uptime you can
easily achieve or how much scalability you get for free to them. They've
already discounted it in their minds and they're just using industry bullshit-
speak to explain it.

I would love to punch Hani Suleiman in the face.

~~~
sri
Why prove anything to anyone? Just build something cool, make $$$, move on,
build something else cool and make $$$, ....

[http://armstrongonsoftware.blogspot.com/2006/08/making-
money...](http://armstrongonsoftware.blogspot.com/2006/08/making-money-from-
erlang.html)

~~~
henning
the more people who use something, the easier it is to use it to build
products.

~~~
mcxx
I don't agree. The ability to build products doesn't depend on popularity of
the methodology. It's more about your creativity, diligence and willingness.

