[erlang-questions] Erlang and Maven

[Arnaud Bailly]

"Olivier Sambourg" <olivier.sambourg@REDACTED> writes:

> Hi everyone,
>
> Most importantly, you can extend it with plugins (written in Java), so I've
> been toying with the idea of an Erlang plugin, for well... Erlang
> projects.

That idea is indeed excellent ! I am a  dedicated maven user and a novice
erlang writer, so I would be more than happy to have such a tool. I
have written couple of plugins and artifacts, and even a tutorial on
maven. Development of plugins is quite easy if you dont have to delve
too deeply in maven's API which is severely underdocumented. 

>
> Things that such a plugin could provide :
> - "archetype" project creation (creates a typical OTP-like erlang project
> directory structure and basic files - a way to enforce good pratices in this
> area ?)

Easy to do once a common setup is agreed upon. AFAIK, OTP proposes
such a framework with its applications ?

> - dependencies management (automatic update from a repository, transitive
> dependencies, etc.)

Tricky as you need a central repository to work with for common
artifacts. Easy for custom ones of course. 

> - run the entire test suite (using EUnit)
> - generate various reports and the project web site (edoc, eunit results,
> changelogs, etc.)

THat's the real added value of maven

> - project compilation
> - project deployment (beam files are packaged and deployed with scp, ftp or
> DAV)

Standard. 

> - dynamic code loading (typical Erlang feature of course. You could load the
> compiled code on one or more nodes, on your integration or production
> environment, etc.)

Maybe a plugin to (http://cargo.codehaus.org) Cargo ?

> - etc ?
>
> I wonder if there are other Maven users among us. Anyway feedback
> and ideas

Here they are :-)

> would be greatly appreciated (maybe something like this already
> exists, or

I have been told that some plugins exist for ruby and native
code. have a look at codehaus. 

BTW, an added benefit I can see to this idea is the possibility that
it could foster wider adoption of erlang in Java/j2ee environments and
more generally in enterprise management systems. I am not a master of
erlang but I am already amazed by the ease with which some tasks are
done in erlang when compared to java or other similar settings. Of
course, concurrency and distribution are known strengths of erlang but
even data handling seem easier. 

May be something could be started ? I am ready for discussion a to
throw some time in. 

regards,
-- 
OQube < software engineering \ génie logiciel >
Arnaud Bailly, Dr.
\web> http://www.oqube.com