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Elixir is for programmers

blog.pluralsight.com

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Re: Elixir is for programmers

#21

Post by troutwine »

seiji wrote: post #19
adamors wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Erlang is awesome, but the syntax is just so out there that it's hard to get used to it when you're usually hacking with Ruby/Python/PHP etc. If I would be working with a functional language for 8 hours a day, perhaps Erlang wouldn't seem so alien, but I'm not so it is. Elixir for this reason is truly a godsend, and perhaps with time I can see myself sipping more and more Erlang because of it.

usually hacking with Ruby/Python/PHP etc Erlang is designed to create solid production systems. If someone is obsessed with quick hacks and fad-of-the-week programming, they will feel uncomfortable in a real development environment.

This seems... harsh to me.

Yeah, so Erlang's syntax is prolog inspired and can seem a little peculiar if you're using Algol inspired languages a lot. I _vaguely_ recall a feeling unfamiliar in Erlang land because of syntax but now, six years in, I hardly care about the syntax of _any_ language. It's just the thing you get used to, like speaking in foreign languages. It's just the water in which you swim.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#23

Post by john2x »

Ever since I started getting into Clojure, I've been getting interested in these other functional programming languages. Lately I've been checking out Elixir. I don't know what draws me to it (most likely the pretty website and logo :P, and partly because I hate the Java ecosystem). I want to get into it as well, but I just don't see myself using it for anything? I mean for the types of problems I'm capable of solving, Clojure (and Python) seems to be sufficient. To me, it seems Erlang (and thus Elixir) only offers its advantages when building really large distributed systems. Is there any other use case for Erlang/Elixir?

I'm still going to be reading up on Erlang/Elixir for fun and to expand on how I approach problems, but right now I only associate Erlang with large distributed systems and I want to add other stuff to that association.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#24

Post by jasonlotito »

knewter wrote: post #17
rdtsc wrote: post #2

I really like Elixir. Not only does it have a clean, pleasant syntax, macros, but it has all the good parts from Erlang, namely: * BEAM VM (isolated heaps, very well tuned scheduler, concurrent garbage collection) * Pattern matching, once you've tried it, it is hard to go back. * Ability to call Erlang code BEAM VM is really a secret gem and many didn't get a chance to play with it because they didn't like Erlang's s…

This is what I came here to say. All of the 'raw language' niceties that Geoffrey mentioned in the article are true, but for me one of the greatest things in Elixir is processes. Just, the way the Erlang system operates is so well thought out, I'm more impressed every time I learn something new. Shameless self-promotion here - I run http://www.elixirsips.com , which is a screencast series that releases 2 new episodes…

I'm a subscriber to Elixir Sips, and just wanted to say that the videos are well worth it to anyone looking to get into Elixir. I'm a happy subscriber, and look forward to more videos.

knewter doesn't know me, and I don't know him.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#25

Post by 6cxs2hd6 »

mml wrote: post #22

Someone should probably point out that it's homoiconic too.

I think it's interesting the extent to which lisp is slowly but steadily insinuating itself into people's brains and into new languages.

There are the modern, obvious lisps like Racket and Clojure.

Then there are things like Honu, Pyret, Elixir, and more, which sidestep many people's "parenoia" [sic]. They do the homoiconic, macro thing without any supposedly frightening s-expressions.

Because, as I read this post, I'm thinking, well hell, all of these features [1] are syntactic sugar that already exist in e.g. Racket, and if they didn't, could be added by anyone. Especially anything like "I always wanted this control structure in Python/Ruby/whatever", well, you can just do it. This is really liberating.

Sure you can argue that people will do dumb things with this capability, or that you "don't really need X", and so on. But being able to do it when you need/want is really awesome.

[1] I'm referring to the points in the post, not everything that Elixir and/or Erlang can do.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#26

Post by pselbert »

A couple months ago I got into Project Euler and decided to tackle all of the problems with Elixir. It was a great way to learn syntax and performance nuances. Definitely a tool that I enjoy using and will be keeping up with.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#27

Post by bphogan »

knewter wrote: post #17
rdtsc wrote: post #2

I really like Elixir. Not only does it have a clean, pleasant syntax, macros, but it has all the good parts from Erlang, namely: * BEAM VM (isolated heaps, very well tuned scheduler, concurrent garbage collection) * Pattern matching, once you've tried it, it is hard to go back. * Ability to call Erlang code BEAM VM is really a secret gem and many didn't get a chance to play with it because they didn't like Erlang's s…

This is what I came here to say. All of the 'raw language' niceties that Geoffrey mentioned in the article are true, but for me one of the greatest things in Elixir is processes. Just, the way the Erlang system operates is so well thought out, I'm more impressed every time I learn something new. Shameless self-promotion here - I run http://www.elixirsips.com , which is a screencast series that releases 2 new episodes…

Thanks for posting this. I am going to subscribe to this. I've been hearing nothing but wonderful things about Elixir but have been struggling with making some mental connections. Your videos look like they'll help me make those connections.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#28

Post by gcb0 »

seiji wrote: post #19
adamors wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Erlang is awesome, but the syntax is just so out there that it's hard to get used to it when you're usually hacking with Ruby/Python/PHP etc. If I would be working with a functional language for 8 hours a day, perhaps Erlang wouldn't seem so alien, but I'm not so it is. Elixir for this reason is truly a godsend, and perhaps with time I can see myself sipping more and more Erlang because of it.

usually hacking with Ruby/Python/PHP etc Erlang is designed to create solid production systems. If someone is obsessed with quick hacks and fad-of-the-week programming, they will feel uncomfortable in a real development environment.

i don't know from your high horse, but from down here, erlang satisfies my needs for badly written hacks just fine.

more so that all implementations have a in memory DB so i don't even have to bother with that as i would have with php... so yeah, installing yaws and writting hello world... is as PHPish as it gets for quick web prototypes.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#29

Post by coolsunglasses »

adambard wrote: post #11
coolsunglasses wrote: post #9

Too bad the lists aren't counting lists and are dumb cons cells. :( Has a cool Leiningen (clojure) inspired build/dependency tool.

There are many things in Elixir that seem to be inspired by Clojure and/or lisp in general (which I think is great, by the way): * AST-level macros with quote/unquote * Reducers (efficient list processing) * Protocols (which are like inside-out interfaces)

The Elixir macros aren't built on homoiconicity though.

Reducers aren't really intended for processing lists, they're best for processing vectors and trees.

Re: Elixir is for programmers

#30

Post by gcb0 »

gcb0 wrote: post #28
seiji wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

usually hacking with Ruby/Python/PHP etc Erlang is designed to create solid production systems. If someone is obsessed with quick hacks and fad-of-the-week programming, they will feel uncomfortable in a real development environment.

i don't know from your high horse, but from down here, erlang satisfies my needs for badly written hacks just fine. more so that all implementations have a in memory DB so i don't even have to bother with that as i would have with php... so yeah, installing yaws and writting hello world ... is as PHPish as it gets for quick web prototypes.

the above said, the easy of use of yaws is what makes me reticent to even start to play with elixir. i'd be very pissed it i like it but had to go back to plain erl for web prototypes.
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