Erlang article #1 on programming.reddit.com

[Rick Pettit]

On Thu, Aug 17, 2006 at 02:43:34PM -0500, Logan, Martin wrote:
> Rick, you are correct but technically the process loops in Erlang are
> implemented via tail recursion.

Then I am technically correct as well (I mentioned tail-recursion below, though
it should come as no surprise what happens if you "loop forever" using non-tail
recursive calls :-)

> I think this is where the misunderstanding came about.  Procedural looping
> structures such as "for", "while", "do while", and "foreach" are the sorts of
> looping constructs that would severely damage Erlang as a language, IMHO.

Procedural looping constructs in a non-procedural language doesn't make much
sense, which is why I'm not worried about someone trying to add them.

-Rick

> Cheers,
> Martin
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-erlang-questions@REDACTED
> [mailto:owner-erlang-questions@REDACTED] On Behalf Of Rick Pettit
> Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 1:50 PM
> To: Ryan Rawson
> Cc: Joel Reymont; Yariv Sadan; erlangquestions
> Subject: Re: Erlang article #1 on programming.reddit.com
> 
> On Thu, Aug 17, 2006 at 11:30:19AM -0700, Ryan Rawson wrote:
> > Surely you jest?
> > 
> > You'd have to break Erlang to insert loops.  First off you'd have
> > variables that need to be changed.  That substantiably breaks Erlang
> > imho.
> 
> Not sure I understand you here. I have recently been using Joe
> Armstrong's
> robust TCP server, for example, and in that there is the notion of a
> "controller" loop for synchronizing operations among multiple socket
> handlers.
> 
> For "simple servers" (i.e. those not requiring a behaviour like
> gen_server)
> I see tail-recursive server loop constructs all the time.
> 
> Single assignment isn't a problem considering each new iteration through
> the
> loop allows for new local variable bindings, etc.
> 
> > If you want to loop, you probably want to map or fold.  If you need to
> > loop you might want to use gen_server instead, or at the last resort
> > use a tail recursive call.
> 
> What do you think goes on behind the scenes in a map, fold, or even
> gen_server?
> 
> You might be surprised to find that there is a server loop in a
> gen_server
> (it is what passes the state to gen_server callbacks, and it is what the
> gen_server callbacks return the state to).
> 
> Perhaps I misunderstand you.
> 
> -Rick
> 
> > On 8/17/06, Joel Reymont <joelr1@REDACTED> wrote:
> > >
> > >On Aug 17, 2006, at 5:53 PM, Ryan Rawson wrote:
> > >
> > >> I beg of all of you - no for loops.  No looping of any kind!
> > >
> > >What's wrong with looping?
> > >
> > >--
> > >http://wagerlabs.com/
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >