[erlang-questions] Why do we need modules at all?

[Amy Lear]

On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 1:11 AM, Ralf P. Gans <Ralf.Gans@REDACTED> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> the ability to replace code in a running environment depends, to my
> knowledge, on modules.
>
> So modules prevent downtimes and allow 7/24 operation.
>
> cheers, Ralf
>

This is only true because that's the implementation we have. The VM's
ability to maintain a couple of versions of a particular function could
still be maintained on that granular a level..

... Provided there's a way to, with atomicity, ensure that nothing calls the
new version of a function without all of the related changes in associated
functions rolling into the VM at the same time, since you may be moving
quite a bit around if you find yourself refactoring a few functions to add
new capabilities. And that IS something that is easier with modules as a
complete unit of dependency.

Is there a way in a clean semantic manner track cross-function dependencies
(potentially through some type of version tags?) in such a code database?
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