Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#1

Post by taure » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 1:06 PM UTC

Hi Hacker News community,

I'm excited to share Nova, a new web framework built for Erlang, designed to make web development in Erlang simpler, faster, and more approachable. Nova leverages Erlang's concurrency, reliability, and scalability to create a robust yet lightweight framework for building modern web applications.

Key features:

* Lightweight and modular: Easy to integrate with existing Erlang projects.

* Built for concurrency: Harnesses Erlang's actor model for high-performance web apps.

* Developer-friendly: Simplifies routing, middleware, and template handling.

* Extensible: Supports plugins and custom integrations.

Check it out: GitHub: https://github.com/novaframework/nova Homepage: https://novaframework.org Getting Started Guide: https://dev.to/taure/getting-started-with-nova-1ioo/stats

We’re early in development and would love feedback from the community! If you’re an Erlang enthusiast or curious about building web apps with a language known for its reliability (think WhatsApp or RabbitMQ), give Nova a spin and let us know your thoughts.

What do you think about using Erlang for web development? Any features you’d love to see in a framework like this?

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#2

Post by azaras » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 2:02 PM UTC

Why do you use Erlang instead of Elixir?

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#3

Post by prophesi » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 2:04 PM UTC

Not sure how this hit the front page without linking the actual project.

https://novaframework.org/

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#4

Post by colecut » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 2:10 PM UTC

azaras wrote: post #2

Why do you use Erlang instead of Elixir?

It seems he wanted to make an alternative to Elixir..

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#5

Post by CollinEMac » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 2:49 PM UTC

This seems like a tough sell when Phoenix is already so good. I'm struggling to see why I'd use this over that.

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#6

Post by cmdrk » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 2:52 PM UTC

azaras wrote: post #2

Why do you use Erlang instead of Elixir?

Not to pick on you, but there are always posts like this in every Erlang thread. One is not strictly superior to the other, and the BEAM community benefits from the variety IMO.

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#7

Post by regularfry » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 2:52 PM UTC

You've run into the same naming problem GM did with the Vauxhall/Opel Nova: "No Va" literally means some variant of "it doesn't go" in (at least) Italian, Spanish, and French.

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#8

Post by taure » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 3:00 PM UTC

azaras wrote: post #2

Why do you use Erlang instead of Elixir?

We started with Erlang before Elixir was created and we still use it for everything we do.

This is more to have a smooth web framework similar to Phoenix but for Erlang.

You can also use Nova for elixir.

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#9

Post by worthless-trash » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 3:01 PM UTC

CollinEMac wrote: post #5

This seems like a tough sell when Phoenix is already so good. I'm struggling to see why I'd use this over that.

Because its not elixir, its erlang. For those of us who dont do elixir, this fits the knowledge I already have.

Re: Nova: A New Web Framework for Erlang

#10

Post by taure » Thu, Jul 31, 2025, 3:03 PM UTC

worthless-trash wrote: post #9

CollinEMac wrote: post #5

This seems like a tough sell when Phoenix is already so good. I'm struggling to see why I'd use this over that.

Because its not elixir, its erlang. For those of us who dont do elixir, this fits the knowledge I already have.

Nova is also more close to beam so it can be used with elixir and lfe or other beam languages.