12 years supporting Software Architecture teaching with BEAMs

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Applying FP 12 years supporting Software Architecture teaching with BEAMs FUNCTIONAL CONF 2025 Dr. Laura M. Castro [email protected]

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About me 2 Who am I? • Software Engineer (2003) • PhD in Computer Science (2010) • Professor: Software Architecture, Software Testing • Researcher: industrial applications of FP, testing automation • Advocate for women, gender-perspective in tech, and free software!

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About me 3 Erlang Ecosystem Foundation (EEF) - Education, Training & Adoption

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Once Upon a Time

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Spoiler alert

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Spoiler alert 7 An experiment using Erlang for teaching a course in Software Architecture... that was a success

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Erlang?

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Erlang 9 • Born in 1986, released ’98 • Functional, concurrency-oriented – Lightweight, isolated processes, message-passing communication • Multiplatform VM – Garbage collection – Hot code swapping – Transparent distribution

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Erlang 10 • Born in 1986, released ’98 • Functional, concurrency-oriented – Lightweight, isolated processes, message-passing communication • Multiplatform VM (.beam files) – Garbage collection – Hot code swapping – Transparent distribution

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Spoiler alert 11 An experiment using Erlang for teaching a course in Software Architecture that was a success (full talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t19aHilv1VI)

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A decade-old talk, still relevant?

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A decade-old talk, still relevant? 13 Did the experiment resist the pass of time?

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Did the beams resist the pass of time?

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Context

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Context 16

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Context 18

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Context 19

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Context 20 • Public university • Created in 1989 • In the early 00’s, over 25k students • Faculty of Informatics, 2k students

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Computing studies at UDC 21 All 5 sub-disciplines of ACM computing curricula Software Engineering Computer Science Information Systems Information Technology Computer Engineering

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Software Architecture at UDC (Spain) 22 • First taught in 2012/2013 • 1 semester, 6 ETCS credits – 15 weeks, 3h/week lecture+lab (45h) – 150-180 hours effort p/student (7-9h/week) • Between 60-80 students per year – compulsory for software engineers – eligible for computer scientists

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Software Architecture at UDC (Spain) 23 Learning objectives: • Concept of software architecture • Reference architectures • Components design & integration • Traceability & testing

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Software Architecture at UDC (Spain) 24

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Software Architecture at UDC (Spain) 25 The role of FP/Erlang? rapid prototyping

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Software Architecture at UDC (Spain) 26 The role of FP/Erlang: rapid prototyping

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Software Architecture at UDC (Spain) 27 • 3-4 weeks of getting-to-know the language • 8 weeks large-group (5-6 people) custom project – choose problem – motivate architecture – prototype demo in class!

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Software Architecture at UDC (Spain) 28 • 3-4 weeks of getting-to-know the language • 8 weeks large-group (5-6 people) custom project – choose problem – motivate architecture – prototype demo in class!

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Fast forward: today

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30 Did the experiment resist the pass of time?

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Do you still use Erlang? 31

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Do you still use Erlang? 32 No.

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Do you still use FP? 33

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Do you still use FP? 34 Yes!

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Do you still use FP? 35 Yes! (we never stopped)

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Do you still use FP? 36 We use Elixir.

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Do you still use FP? 37 We use Elixir. (since 2018/2019)

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Elixir?

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Elixir 39 • Runs on the Erlang VM • First release 2012 • Modern syntax (allegedly) • Very welcoming community – Lots of learning resources – Large set of libraries (+ can use Erlang’s, too!)

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The BEAM community 40

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The beams did resist the pass of time.

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So... what changed? 42 • Easier learning curve – Still having to force themselves beyond OO • More approachable sources of information • More newbie-friendly development

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So... what changed? 43 • Easier learning curve – Still having to force themselves “beyond OO” • More approachable sources of information • More newbie-friendly development

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And... what stayed the same? 44 Everything else! :)

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And... what stayed the same? 45 Still the best ecosystem I know for rapid prototyping of architectural choices

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And... what stayed the same? 46 • Forces them to think asynchronously • Encourages them to supervise failure • Eases the implementation and deployment of their choices, at large scale, in distributed manner

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And... what stayed the same? 47 • Forces them to think asynchronously • Encourages them to supervise failure • Eases the implementation and deployment of their choices, at large scale, in distributed manner (How the BEAM will change your mind, CODE BEAM 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpMAT_qlbcY)

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Other things changing out there... 48 https://elixir-companies.com

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Other things changing out there... 49

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Phoenix Other things changing out there... 50

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Other things changing out there... 51

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Other things changing out there... 52

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Other things changing out there... 53

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Other things changing out there... 54

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To take home

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To take home 56 Functional programming is a paradigm with benefits that expand beyond programming

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To take home 57 The BEAM ecosystem, FP with a focus on concurrency and distribution, is a great tool for learning/teaching architectural concepts

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Thanks! #weBEAMtogether