Why Elixir Matters: A Genealogy of Functional Programming - LoneStar ElixirConf 2018

Members of the Elixir community often receive the question: “why should I use Elixir?” The answer to this nuanced question remains elusive, because the answer is not primarily technical. This talk argues that the success of Elixir will be marked by how we learn from the mistakes historically made by the functional programming community. This talk analyzes why functional languages fail to develop large and diverse communities. More importantly, this talk presents a strategy for the Elixir community, which centers around community-building, based on real-world experiences and historical analysis.

Transcript

1. Why Elixir Matters A Genealogy of Functional Programming Osa Gaius github.com/osagaius @osagaius
2. Who am I? Engineer at Mailchimp Organizer - Atlanta Elixir Meetup
3. Outline 1. Introduction 2. Genealogy 3. History of Functional Programming 4. Why Elixir Matters 5. Moving Forward 6. Conclusion
4. Introduction
11. Language Popularity (TIOBE Index)
13. Genealogy jee-nee-ol-uh-jee
16. History of Functional Programming
17. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
18. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Lambda Calculus
20. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Lambda Calculus LISP
21. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme
22. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML
23. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang
24. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda
25. 1930 1940 1950 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 1960
26. 1930 1940 1950 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 Scala 1960
27. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 Scala F#
28. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 Scala F# Clojure
29. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 Scala F# Akka Clojure
30. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 Scala F# Akka Clojure Rust
31. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 Scala F# Akka Clojure Rust Elixir
32. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Lambda Calculus LISP Scheme ML Erlang Miranda Haskell 2020 Scala F# Akka Clojure Rust Elixir Elm
33. Why Elixir Matters
34. “The rise in popularity of the Internet and the need for non-interrupted availability of services has extended the class of problems that Erlang can solve.” Joe Armstrong
35. Erlang x Elixir • Syntax • The Web • Evangelism
36. Erlang x Elixir • Syntax • The Web • Evangelism
37. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Erlang 2020
38. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Erlang Java 2020
39. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Erlang Java 2020 JS
40. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Erlang Java 2020 Ruby JS
41. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Erlang Java 2020 Ruby Rails JS
42. Erlang x Elixir • Syntax • The Web • Evangelism
43. “The rise in popularity of the Internet and the need for non-interrupted availability of services has extended the class of problems that Erlang can solve.” Joe Armstrong
44. Moving Forward
45. “Unpopular languages are niche languages” Meyerovich and Rabkin
46. Moving Forward • Breadth vs Depth • Evangelism
47. Breadth vs Depth • Libraries (aka Gems) • Domains
48. Moving Forward • Breadth vs Depth • Evangelism
49. Evangelism • Marketing • Consultation • Fan Out
50. Conclusion
51. Gracias! Questions? github.com/osagaius @osagaius