Hi!
Which programming language do you recommend me to learn next, Scala or Elixir? I want to be able write concurrent systems. But I also want to be hireable.
Thanks.
Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
1–10 of 13 posts
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#2This type of question gets asked a lot on the net and as someone with experience I can say it rarely matters what language you know its what you have built, can build and your architectural skills that matter. The language is just a tool for the task and will vary depending on the task. So ask yourself what you want to build then choose the language, the other way around makes no sense. Its like saying I want to be a carpenter should I learn how to use a hammer or a chainsaw? Only when you know youll be chopping down a tree for wood first can you make a reasonable choice to use a chainsaw.
Recruiters might not get this and just ask for knowledge of X or Y but at some point in your interview process theres most likely going to be a lead engineer sitting across from as an influencer on whether to hire you or not, and if hes worth anything hes only going to care about your "building" skills not language X or Y.
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#3If you want a job right this moment, Scala.
If you want to learn about FP, and build things where concurrency wasn't an after thought, be happy while doing it, and be a head of the curve when Elixir conquers the world.... Elixir.
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#4Why not both?
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#5Language rarely matters, but Scala is were the action is today and probably in the future.
Both languages could be considered "add-ons" on top of their runtime, so you have to think about how likely it is that the "base" language gets good enough to slow down adoption significantly.
In Scala's case it's quite unlikely that Java will ever be able to even decrease the gap let alone closing it.
Elixir feels a lot like CoffeeScript in that regard.
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#6While Scala's Akka is pretty sweet for concurrent systems, Erlang/Elixir puts them all to shame. I think that Elixir and Phoenix will very rapidly assume position #1 for web frameworks, surpassing Node.js and Golang among the cutting edge but practical crowd in the next 1-2 years, and surpassing Ruby and Python among the more conservative crowd in the next 3-4 years. Java may be so entrenched in Entreprise systems that it will never be replaced, but if any ecosystem could do it, it's Erlang/Elixir.
That said, if you want to work with one of these two languages in a job now, Scala is obviously a better bet. But I could see that changing in as soon as 1 year from now.
Also, if you plan to mix a lot of computationally expensive stuff with concurrency, then Scala may be worth seriously entertaining regardless of the job situation or popularity, although for that, C/++ and ZeroMQ may be the best bet. Based on my limited experience, and what I've read from expert Erlang users, hybrid C/Erlang projects tend to eliminate a lot of the concurrency benefits that pure Erlang systems have.
But I've been playing around more and more with Phoenix and other Elixir and Erlang projects over the past month, and am pretty amazed at what I've seen. As much as I enjoy FP, I'm sad that I discounted Erlang for so long because of its lack of static typing (which is unfortunate, but far from being a deal breaker for me now that I've explored Erlang a little more).
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#7Language rarely matters, but Scala is were the action is today and probably in the future. Both languages could be considered "add-ons" on top of their runtime, so you have to think about how likely it is that the "base" language gets good enough to slow down adoption significantly. In Scala's case it's quite unlikely that Java will ever be able to even decrease the gap let alone closing it. Elixir feels a lot like C…
> Elixir feels a lot like CoffeeScript
Elixir's syntax bears some resemblance to CoffeeScript (both were influenced by Ruby's syntax) but otherwise it's hard to imagine a language more unlike CoffeeScript/JavaScript.
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#8Language rarely matters, but Scala is were the action is today and probably in the future. Both languages could be considered "add-ons" on top of their runtime, so you have to think about how likely it is that the "base" language gets good enough to slow down adoption significantly. In Scala's case it's quite unlikely that Java will ever be able to even decrease the gap let alone closing it. Elixir feels a lot like C…
> Elixir feels a lot like CoffeeScript Elixir's syntax bears some resemblance to CoffeeScript (both were influenced by Ruby's syntax) but otherwise it's hard to imagine a language more unlike CoffeeScript/JavaScript.
I meant in terms of being obsoleted by their "base" language (JavaScript).
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#9This type of question gets asked a lot on the net and as someone with experience I can say it rarely matters what language you know its what you have built, can build and your architectural skills that matter. The language is just a tool for the task and will vary depending on the task. So ask yourself what you want to build then choose the language, the other way around makes no sense. Its like saying I want to be a…
> This type of question gets asked a lot on the net and as someone with experience I can say it rarely matters what language you know its what you have built, can build and your architectural skills that matter
He's asking what his next language should be. I don't get the vibe here of a new programmer thinking he's staking his entire future on what programming language he decides to learn.
It's entirely possible to understand that the programming languages you know aren't as important as what you've built along with your knowledge of software engineering and computer science fundamentals, and yet still want input on the next PL you'll learn in your free time.
Re: Ask HN: Scala or Elixir, What would you recommend me?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Elixir feels a lot like CoffeeScript Elixir's syntax bears some resemblance to CoffeeScript (both were influenced by Ruby's syntax) but otherwise it's hard to imagine a language more unlike CoffeeScript/JavaScript.
I meant in terms of being obsoleted by their "base" language (JavaScript).
Yes, the added "in that regard" makes that clear.