Szymon Jeż Why and how to try Elixir and Erlang/OTP? TRUG #36, Sopot 2015 

What are they? Why try? How to try (learn)? 

What are they? 

Erlang 

Erlang (/ˈɜrlæŋ/ ER-lang) is a general-purpose concurrent, garbage-collected programming language and runtime system. The sequential subset of Erlang is a functional language, with eager evaluation, single assignment, and dynamic typing. It was designed by Ericsson to support distributed, fault-tolerant, soft-real- time, non-stop applications. It supports hot swapping, so that code can be changed without stopping a system. Erlang is a programming language used to build massively scalable soft real-time systems with requirements on high availability. Some of its uses are in telecoms, banking, e-commerce, computer telephony and instant messaging. Erlang's runtime system has built-in support for concurrency, distribution and fault tolerance. 

OTP 

OTP is set of Erlang libraries and design principles providing middle-ware to develop these systems. It includes its own distributed database, applications to interface towards other languages, debugging and release handling tools. 

Elixir 

Elixir is a dynamic, functional language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications. Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain. Its principles are compatibility, productivity and extensibility. 

You talk with Elixir when doing business with Erlang 

Why try? 

„When you find yourself on the side of majority, it's time to pause and reflect” — Mark Twain 

“Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.” ‒ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Learning a new language is beneficial 

Every year? Every 3-5 years! 

But why this language? 

Because it's: · different, · uniq, · functional, · best in many domains, · productive. 

Learn a new computing paradigm 

The world is concurrent 

Multi Processor CPUs are the future 

e.g. 60x1GHz Intel® Xeon Phi™ Coprocessors 

Telecoms ~= Webcoms 

smaller problem domain gap => less code to write => less money spend 

Functional Programming Can make programs easier to write and maintain. No loops Few ifs Explicitness Less coupling Problem |> Solution |> Presentation 

Next big thing? Gut feeling: yes Explanation: in progress 

(...) I know the feeling. Gut feeling precedes logic. I know when things are right, I don’t know how or why I know, but the explanation of why things are right often comes weeks or years later. Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” talks about this. Experts in a particular field can often instantly know that something is right, but they can’t explain why. – Joe Armstrong http://joearms.github.io/2013/05/31/a-week- with-elixir.html 

Dave Thomas Bruce Tate are in 

Some Numbers 4 years in development 1.0 since IX 2014 6 books available few more coming 1 conference 2 coming tens of meetups 1M hex downloads rapid growth 

How to try (learn)? 

Meet them genius. Talk with them. It's easy! 

Learn to listen to: Erlang Learn to talk with: Elixir Know them both. 

For sure get to know Erlang, OTP, EVM (BEAM) to be able to work well with Elixir 

“Material Beats Method” — Tim Ferris D.S.S.S. CaFE 

Deconstruct Explore Find to the basics Decompose every skill Cheat sheets 

Selection „Material matters most” What you learn is more important than how you learn. Spend time learning about the available material. Find the best book for your level. 

Sequencing One thing at a time. Code kata Not to complicated, so you cant lose yourself. First the basics. {{theory, exercise} loop, project} loop theory – small chunks, low/mid energy exercise – medium chunks, high energy projects – medium/big hunks, low energy theory – BOOKS, tutorials, videos, articles, presentations, courses, source code I recommend using books. They can do D.S.S. quite good. 

Sequencing Examples: · Read one book. Do projects. · Read book while doing exercises. Do project. · Do book while doing a project. …Then read more. While learning be notDRY™ Do Repeat Yourself + Get Your Hands Wet 

Stakes “Being afraid of loosing something is more motivating than the hope of gaining something.” So... put something on stake! 

Stakes e.g. “I bet 1000$ that I will finish this book this year and do all the exercises and projects.” “Do a talk about Elixir and Erlang every 2 months or donate 100$ somewhere you would better not.” 

Aim high => Excitement => Energy => Fail? Failing big brings you further than failing small. 

Thank you for watching! 

Szymon Jeż @szymon_jez Why and how to try Elixir and Erlang/OTP? TRUG #36, Sopot 2015