[erlang-questions] Forget Erlang on the Java VM. More language on the Erlang VM are needed!

[Joel Reymont]

On Nov 28, 2007, at 2:35 PM, Michael Regen wrote:

> Therefore I can see huge advantages if Erlang would run under the  
> industry
> standard JVM. Maybe no technical advantages - besides possibly  
> easier Java
> integration. Maybe even some disadvantages. But for me it makes a  
> difference
> if I can sell my Erlang solutions or just go over to the next pitch.  
> So, the
> question for me is rather be what would we lose with another VM.


I may be wrong here but the advantages of using Java over Erlang for  
the CIO lie not so much in the technical merits of Java as in the deep  
pool of Java developers. It follows that a deep pool of developers  
translates into a deep pool of knowledge.

A client I'm working with is not able to use Erlang at his startup  
since he simply cannot hire Erlang programmers in the US. I'm building  
up a team of developers around Wager Labs and I hope Francesco does  
not mind the competition ;-). Still, I don't think one or two Erlang  
consultancies are going to make a large enough impact.

Dave Thomas of Pragmatic Programmers is rolling out courses together  
with Joe Armstrong but Erlang will keep being a novelty for some time  
to come. The biggest impact that YOU can make is to roll out cool  
Erlang-based projects.

CouchDB counts, Erlyweb not so much. People want to buy 1/4 holes and  
not 1/4 drills. Be bold, go beyond what other people have gone before  
you. Push Erlang towards unproven applications, don't push Erlang into  
the "enterprise". Once the enteprise is awed, Erlang will make its way  
into the enterprise.

As it stands, most of the current examples of applying Erlang can be  
thought of as irrelevant to the enterprise. Telecom? Bah, our business  
could not be different! I'm hoping to show in the upcoming "Hardcore  
Erlang" book that nothing can be further from the truth, after all, as  
someone said, "Your trading app is one big honking router!".

	Cheers, Joel

--
http://wagerlabs.com