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IBM releases Elm-powered app

discourse.elm-lang.org

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Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#11

Post by wishinghand »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #6
azemetre wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is interesting to me because Elm is an extremely unique way of doing frontend development on the web by utilizing functional programming concepts. IBM, in my mind, is a massive dinosaur. To know that some group there was able to make a consumer facing product using the latest tech is cool. Definitely gives IBM a better favorability rating in my view.

Not to be glib, but what you are saying, kind-of, is "the worse a company is at staying up to date with technology, the more meaningful it is if they use a fringe langauge"

I don't see that as a criticism. It just means a new technology is noteworthy enough that even those slow to catch up get interested. Like when senior citizens started using iPads.

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#12

Post by nemothekid »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #2

I don't understand why this is noteworthy. I think maybe this is when you decide 'maybe our language has failed'. Or at least admit it's a toy language that hasn't been properly engineered to be effectively used commercially. When it's a 'worth mentioning' when a single app has been written in it by some dying company. I mean, imagine if we had a headline on the frontpage of HN for every app written in C or C++ or Ja…

>I mean, imagine if we had a headline on the frontpage of HN for every app written in C or C++ or Java or Python (or Objective-C or Swift or C# or even Visual Basic or Rust)

Doesn't this already happen almost every day for Rust and Go?

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#13

Post by int_19h »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #2

I don't understand why this is noteworthy. I think maybe this is when you decide 'maybe our language has failed'. Or at least admit it's a toy language that hasn't been properly engineered to be effectively used commercially. When it's a 'worth mentioning' when a single app has been written in it by some dying company. I mean, imagine if we had a headline on the frontpage of HN for every app written in C or C++ or Ja…

> I mean, imagine if we had a headline on the frontpage of HN for every app written in C or C++ or Java or Python (or Objective-C or Swift or C# or even Visual Basic or Rust)

IBM writing an app of this size in Rust would definitely be headline-worthy.

For other languages you list, it's not, but only because they're already well-established, and have been for decades. But it could have been a headline when they were new and unproven.

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#14

Post by acheron »

patsall wrote: post #3

* Obligatory Pine joke here * (I know the Elm people don't like jokes about the email client. Tough; they should have picked a name that wasn't already used.)

> Obligatory Pine joke here

But Pine Is Not Elm.

I wonder how many of today's Linux users don't get why the editor is named nano. The fact that you can trace the name back to "electronic mail" is my favorite command-name joke in an environment full of them.

(If you missed the chain, it was

1. "electronic mail" = "elm"

2. "pine" as a joke on "elm" -- though I believe they deny the "PINE Is Not Elm" derivation, it's still pretty clearly a reference to elm

3. "pico" the editor as "PIne COmposer"

4. "nano" as a joke on "pico".)

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#15

Post by quickthrower2 »

innocentoldguy wrote: post #7
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #2

I don't understand why this is noteworthy. I think maybe this is when you decide 'maybe our language has failed'. Or at least admit it's a toy language that hasn't been properly engineered to be effectively used commercially. When it's a 'worth mentioning' when a single app has been written in it by some dying company. I mean, imagine if we had a headline on the frontpage of HN for every app written in C or C++ or Ja…

I think it is newsworthy because it details the strengths and weaknesses of Elm in what looks like a fairly complex project. I already use and like Elm better than any other front-end framework, but if I was considering Elm as a possibility, this information would be quite useful, I think. Definitely not the most important thing on the list, but I use Vim to code so IDE integrations mean absolutely nothing to me. I h…

Just so you know, Vim has Elm plugins: https://github.com/ElmCast/elm-vim.

As an aside, of all the things I judge a job offer on, whether or not they use IDEs is pretty far down the list.

I can get Visual Studio to behave like VIM and vice versa probably.

I find it interesting that people sometimes hold this in high regard.

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#16

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

acheron wrote: post #14
patsall wrote: post #3

* Obligatory Pine joke here * (I know the Elm people don't like jokes about the email client. Tough; they should have picked a name that wasn't already used.)

> Obligatory Pine joke here But Pine Is Not Elm. I wonder how many of today's Linux users don't get why the editor is named nano . The fact that you can trace the name back to "electronic mail" is my favorite command-name joke in an environment full of them. (If you missed the chain, it was 1. "electronic mail" = "elm" 2. "pine" as a joke on "elm" -- though I believe they deny the "PINE Is Not Elm" derivation, it's s…

And let's not forget that less(1) is more(1) ;) (And there's also a most(1), because of course there is;p)

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#17

Post by quickthrower2 »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #2

I don't understand why this is noteworthy. I think maybe this is when you decide 'maybe our language has failed'. Or at least admit it's a toy language that hasn't been properly engineered to be effectively used commercially. When it's a 'worth mentioning' when a single app has been written in it by some dying company. I mean, imagine if we had a headline on the frontpage of HN for every app written in C or C++ or Ja…

You have to take into account that Elm is relying on organic growth. If React had been released by a bunch of enthusiasts with day jobs, and no Facebook behind it, it may be in the same position as Elm.

> Steve Yegge said it best almost 10 years ago

That reads like a Register article. It's just a bit of fun.

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#18

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #6
azemetre wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is interesting to me because Elm is an extremely unique way of doing frontend development on the web by utilizing functional programming concepts. IBM, in my mind, is a massive dinosaur. To know that some group there was able to make a consumer facing product using the latest tech is cool. Definitely gives IBM a better favorability rating in my view.

Not to be glib, but what you are saying, kind-of, is "the worse a company is at staying up to date with technology, the more meaningful it is if they use a fringe langauge"

Yes? If a company sucks at trying new things, then it's probably noteworthy when they bothered to try a new thing, because it implies that either 1. they're pulling out of their rut, or 2. this thing was so great that even they wanted to use it.

(Note, I'm not convinced that IBM is quite so ... obsolete... as this discussion implies, either.)

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#19

Post by benatkin »

patsall wrote: post #3

* Obligatory Pine joke here * (I know the Elm people don't like jokes about the email client. Tough; they should have picked a name that wasn't already used.)

Maybe they like jokes about it somewhat but think people joke about it too much, and the way to get them to joke about it less is to pretend not to like it at all.

I think that's what happened with Clojure and people coming up with jure puns on it (compujure, etc).

https://github.com/Raynes/lein-newnew/blob/master/src/leinin...

Re: IBM releases Elm-powered app

#20

Post by i_feel_great »

This inspired me to look up the Elm docs, and came across this gem:

  view model =
    div []
      [ button [ onClick Decrement ] [ text "-" ]
      , div [] [ text (String.fromInt model) ]
      , button [ onClick Increment ] [ text "+" ]
      ]
The html elements themselves are Elm functions. Code looks like data. Nice. Now considering Elm to be potentially useful tool to know.
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